Northwest presents evening of music, poetry

Northwest Missouri State University students and faculty members representing the school's music and English programs will perform  Wednesday during a concert featuring compositions by Franz Schubert along with the works of writers and poets who inspired him.

The free concert will begin at 8 p.m. in Charles Johnson Theater on the first floor of the Olive DeLuce Fine Arts Building.

Pamela Shannon, associate professor of music, and Jeff Loomis, professor of English, organized the performance, which will combine the talents of 13 Northwest student vocalists and seven literature students.

The performance will also include visual images  prepared by Jolaine Zweifel, a computer specialist in Northwest’s Center for Information Technology in Education.

Shannon and Northwest student Kyle Zimmerman will serve as narrators, presenting information about Schubert’s life and work. Accompanists are to include Charles Badami, Deena Poynter and Cody Bradley.

Schubert, who lived 1797-1828, was an Austrian composer widely known for his art songs. He frequently found inspiration in the Romantic poetry of his era, including works by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, one of Western Europe's acknowledged literary masters.

"When (Schubert) read the poems of Goethe, it fostered his imagination," Shannon said. “He took the poems of this man and others and brought a world of poetry into music."

The concert will feature poems and songs that explore themes of love, life and death.

Among the works selected for the program are "Gretchen at the Spinning Wheel," "Little Rose of the Field," and The Elf King."