Saturday, November 10, 1:00 to 4:30 p.m.
Hatch Hall, Eastman School of Music

“Playing with Words: An Afternoon Exploring and Singing Poetry” is a two-part event, collaboratively organized by the UR English Department, the Eastman Voice and Opera Department, and the Eastman Composition Department.

The first part of the afternoon will consist of performances by Eastman voice students of a great range of modern and contemporary settings (nineteen in all) of the poetry of Emily Dickinson. The composers represented in these settings include Aaron Copland, Ned Rorem, Vincent Persichetti, Andre Previn, and Lee Hoiby. There will also be brief discussions of some of the poems and settings, with a group that includes Kenneth Gross, John Michael, Jon Baldo, and ESM voice teacher and pianist Alison D’Amato.

The second part will focus on entirely new song settings of poems by Jennifer Grotz and James Longenbach, created by Eastman composition students Jung Sun Kang and Jesse Lozano, performed by Eastman singers and musicians. The performances will be followed by a conversation with the poets and composers, along with Katherine Ciesinski of the Eastman Voice Department and Ricardo Zohn-Muldoon of the Eastman Composition Department.

The event is free and open to the public, and will be followed by a reception.