I haven’t posted here in a while, but I thought I ought to, because I visited Appleton, Wisconsin from April 24th to the 28th for purposes of poetry and music, always a good reason to travel. The Fox Valley Symphony Orchestra flew me out and put me up for the world premiere of “High Ashes,” a sequence of my poems (from my work in progress, High Ashes) set to music by composer Stella Sung as a commissioned companion piece to Gustav Mahler’s “Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen [Songs of a Wayfarer],” part of a “Mahler to the Max” evening, which concluded with a performance of Mahler’s First Symphony.

My first order of business upon arriving in Appleton was a visit to Kevin Segrest’s John Donne class, where we discussed Donne’s satires and spent time on his thorny approach to meter. That evening I gave a long reading from Storm Swimmer, my latest book, at the Wriston Gallery in the art school at Lawrence University, which also houses an important music conservatory.

I gave a well-attended pre-concert talk with German baritone Maximillion Krummen and conductor Kevin F.E. Sütterlin in the smaller theater at the Fox Valley Performing Arts Center. I was also asked to come up on stage and talk about “High Ashes for Baritone and Orchestra” the evening of the performance.

It was a whirlwind visit and great fun all around. Many thanks to all who made it possible. Some photos below.