The Poet Speaks

Concert performed in Fall 2018

The theme for our fall concert is The Poet Speaks. Choral music is a unique collaboration of poet and composer that results in a codependent art form in which both music and word attain euphoric levels of nuance, drama, and meaning. In this concert we are excited to present the words of Robert Frost in a collection titled Frostiana – Seven Country Songs, composed by Randall Thompson. Hymn ToSt. Cecilia is Benjamin Britten’s glorious a cappella setting of the poetry by Wystan Hugh Auden. The words of the American poet Louise Bogan are hypnotically set by Samuel Barber in To Be Sung On The Water. And finally, a light-hearted collection of short poems titled Animal Crackers, by Ogden Nash, brilliantly set by Eric Whitacre. This concert will feature guest conductors David Carew, Lee Dengler, and Brody Thomas along with keyboard artist Christine Larson Seitz and live narration by WVPE’s Tony Krabill. The concert will be sure to both inspire and amuse.