Ft Myers Composer & Florida Poet Laureate Join Forces
Poetry & Music Unite!
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On February 15th, 2022 PETER MEINKE, Florida Poet Laureate & St Petersburg resident will be speaking briefly about his work and reading a selection of his poetry at one of the year’s most unusual cultural events in Sarasota – a special fusion of literature and music performed by the Chamber Orchestra of Sarasota featuring music by award winning, SW Florida composer, William Dawson, Jr. Dawson, who has become an aficionado & friend of Peter, has composed a song cycle for Soprano, Baritone and Orchestra set to various poems of Meinke. The World Premiere performances (of the orchestral version) , conducted by Maestro Robert Vodnoy, will be held at Redeemer Episcopal Church (222 S. Palm Ave) in downtown Sarasota at 5:30 PM and 7:30 PM – two back to back one hour concerts. The soloist will be Linda Hines and her husband Christopher Holloway, rising young stars who have appeared in celebrated operatic productions too numerous to name. Works by Mozart, Holst, & Bartok will fill out the program. After the concert Meinke will give the public a chance to greet and meet the Poet Laureate, Mr Meinke, who will available for book signing. Info & tickets, which can be purchased on line (or at the event) for $30, are available at www.chamberorchestrasarasota.org
Contacts
Dr. Robert Vodnoy, Conductor Chamber Orchestra of Sarasota
Tel. 219. 928. 8671
Email: [email protected]
Peter Meinke, Florida Poet Laureate
Tel: 727. 896. 1862
Email: [email protected]
William Dawson Jr., Composer
Tel: 239.771.6689
Email: [email protected]
[email protected]
PETER MEINKE
Florida Poet Laureate
June of 2014 Florida lawmakers established a four-year term for State Poet Laureate. The poet is appointed by the Governor from a list of nominees selected by the Florida Council on Arts & Culture and culled by the Secretary of State. Peter Meinke is the first Florida Poet Laureate to serve under the 2014 statute. His work has appeared in The Atlantic, The New Yorker, The Nation and scores of other journals; he’s received many major awards including a Fulbright, two NEA Fellowships, three prizes from the Poetry Society of America and the Flannery O’Connor and O’Henry Awards for short stories. He retired from Eckerd College in 1993, where he received its Distinguished Teacher Award in 1990. Peter has read his poems in over a dozen countries and has been appointed Distinguished Writer-in-Residence at many colleges and universities including Davidson, Emory, University of North Carolina, George Washington University and the University of Hawaii. The most recent of his twenty plus books is Lucky Bones (2014), his eighth collection in the prestigious Pitt Poetry Series. Peter, who is considered a master of the short story, published a new collection of short stories entitled The Expert Witness this past year.
WILLIAM DAWSON JR, Composer
Fort Myers Composer & Pianist William Dawson is an alumnus of the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia where he studied with world renowned concert pianist, Rudolf Serkin. He went on to earn a graduate degree in music at Yale University, where he studied piano with John Kirkpatrick and Composition. Dawson has appeared as soloist with major symphonies including the Boston Pops with Arthur Fiedler (NPR broadcast), the Florida Philharmonic and the State of Mexico Symphony Orchestra. He has played recitals & given Master Classes all over the United States, Switzerland (L’Abri), throughout Japan, the Republic of China and Latin America. Gian Carlo Menotti invited Dawson to perform at the Spoleto Festival in Italy. His chamber music concerts include performances with members of the Miami String Quartet, Anne Williams, Principal Cellist with the Pittsburgh Symphony and Daniel Majeske, late Concertmaster of the Cleveland Orchestra.
He is Professor Emeritus at Miami Dade College and is a founder of the New World School of the Arts in Miami where he was assistant to the dean, John Delancie, former Director of the Curtis Institute of Music and Principal Oboist with the Philadelphia Orchestra. Dawson co- founded the J.S. Bach Escuela de Música in Merida, Mexico and has served as Visiting Professor at Universidad del Valle in Guatemala City & Victoriano Lopez Conservatory in San Pedro Sula, Honduras. 1994 the BiNational Symphony Orchestra premiered his composition “Chichen Itza Suite” which was performed at that archaeological zone in Yucatan, Mexico. This work was performed and recorded in Miami by the Grammy nominee Mexican conductor, Eduardo Diazmuñoz. The Instituto de Cultura in Yucatan has produced a CD of Dawson’s “Trilogía Yucateca” for Soprano, Strings and Piano. In addition Dawson has composed numerous songs based on poetry and themes of the Yucatan. In recognition of his bi-national cultural exchange accomplishments, Dawson has received various official honors and awards from the University of Yucatan, the State of Yucatan, Mexico and the U.S. Department of State. The Florida State Music Teachers Association named Dawson Commissioned Composer of the Year 2007. The Southwest Florida Symphony commissioned Dawson to compose choral music for the 2007-08 season. In June of 2017 he was invited by Metropolitan Opera conductor, Maestro Paul Nadler, to a performance of his songs in New York City at the International Vocal Arts Institute. His music has been published by Augsburg-Fortress.
