Spoken-word poetry and songwriting will coalesce as singers, poets and musicians interpret love beyond romance in a debut performance.
Holy City Arts & Lyric Opera (HALO) unveils “Singers & Stanzas” at 2 p.m. on May 4 at Dock Street Theatre, 135 Church St., in downtown Charleston.
The performance of original songs is an intercity collaboration: New York-based composer Laura Jobin-Acosta worked with lyrics written by Lowcountry poets Marcus Amaker, Evelyn Berry, Abby Duran and Brittany Porcher to create songs that will be performed by Chicago-based vocalists Schyler Vargas and Lindsay Metzger backed by New-York pianist Isaac Hayward. The concert will also feature other songs by living composers.
“I’ve always loved presenting poetry in ways that people might not expect, to bring something to the community that it hasn’t seen before,” said Marcus Amaker, Charleston’s first poet laureate. “With ‘Singers & Stanzas,’ we have created something entirely new for Charleston. That’s saying a lot, considering how old the city is.”
This unique performance aligns with HALO’s mission to be a wellspring of high art in the Lowcountry. “Singers & Stanzas” creates space for the audience to connect to an expansive, intimate performance that reveals the heart of each performer.
Composer Jobin-Acosta said each poet involved created a doorway for her to empathize with their experiences as she shaped the text and music to form a cohesive work. It’s a matter of give-and-take.
“When I collaborate with these poets, I’m living in their world,” Jobin-Acosta told The Post and Courier.
“They’re not writing something fictional,” she said. “It’s all coming from a place of experience and honesty. So when I’m writing this music for them, I’m living their words emotionally. There’s something about the diversity of these poets that makes me feel like I have grown. I’m sharing in what they’ve lived and what they’re bringing forth and putting on the table.”
The main theme of the performance is non-romantic love, she said, and it fascinates her how broad the final product is.
“It’s not what you think,” Jobin-Acosta said. “It’s just not what you would expect.”
Poet Duran contributed a piece surrounding forgiveness, which she sees as a deep form of adoration. To her, the format of “Singers & Stanzas” has the potential to live on after the performance and even captivate on a global scale.
Evelyn Berry will be performing as part of “Singers & Stanzas.”
“The ambition of HALO is to break artistic stereotypes that a general audience may perceive,” Duran said. “Charleston is a comfortable creative corner that needs a redirection from the classics that adds to the diversity we should be spotlighting. And this type of collaboration between poetry and music proves that what one can create is limitless.”
Poet Berry said the collaborative experience has been magical to witness as poems and vocal performance come together. She believes this concert takes a niche art form like poetry and makes it accessible to wider audiences.
“In my piece, I wanted to focus on my love for a community of trans women,” Berry said. “I wrote a poem that, I hope, carries its own music and rhythm ….”
The implications of this collaboration and upcoming performance are exciting, Jobin-Acosta said.
“I love that there are poets who are interested in collaborating with musicians,” she said. “I love that we’re bringing new ideas and practices to the table. I can see a future in workshopping with poets and composers to bring new ways of sharing and uniting people.”
For tickets, which are $25, visit holycityarts.ticketspice.com.
