When poetry and music come together: a lot happens.
Last evening, I ‘attended’ via livestream the performance by Haven Trio of David Biedenbender’s amazing new composition “all we are given we cannot hold,” which premiered at the University of North Texas. The piece is named after my newest manuscript of poetry and features seven of my poems, new and old, set to music by Biedenbender.
Haven Trio features soprano Lindsay Kesselman, clarinetist Kimberly Cole Luevano, and pianist Midori Koga, and their performance last evening was stunning.
Want to see it? If so, click through here, and it begins at 1:40:34.
Also, if you choose to watch and would like to follow along with my poems as Lindsay sings them, click through here; they are listed in the program from last evening’s performance.
“all we are given we cannot hold” will also be performed tonight, Wednesday 10/26/22 at Abilene Christian University.
We’ll have to wait until March for the local premiere, at Michigan State University on March 13, 2013 at Cook Recital Hall. I’ll remind you then!
Until then, if you are near East Lansing this Friday and want to see another of Biedenbender’s incredible compositions inspired by my poetry, come check out Severance, which takes it’s title from my most recent collection of poems. This amazing piece, that premiered in 2020 with a performance by the United States Navy Band, will be performed by the Nois Saxophone Quartet & the Michigan State University Wind Symphony at Wharton Center for the Performing Arts, conducted by Kevin Sedatole, at 8pm.
I’ll be there, soaking up the poetry / made music / made musical poetry.
Hope you can be there, too! If not, click through here and see Severance performed by the U.S. Navy Band at the 2020 premiere.
ROBERT FANNING: POET 