Benefit Features Paul Winter Consort & Jane Hirshfield

An exceptional opportunity for excellence will be Princeton's on October 10.  The Paul Winter Consort will fill the University Chapel with his liquid evocations of nature, beginning at 7 p.m.  During the concert, as so often at the Dodge Poetry Festival, the Consort's music will weave around the powerful poetry of Jane Hirshfield.

This unique juxtaposition of the arts is a benefit for D&R Greenway Land Trust, where I work.  Our preservation and stewardship mission will be furthered by paid admissions (General and Reserved) to the concert; and tickets purchased to Meet-the-Artists Reception in Firestone Library, 8:30 to 9:30. 

Jane's books and Paul's CD's will be on sale after the concert, to be signed only at the reception. 

I include our release with all information and quotes from these superb artists, as to why they are joining us, as I urge you to do. 

I promise, having heard Paul at the Chapel in the 70's, as well as during his legendary Winter Solstice Celebrations at St. John-the-Divine in Manhattan, you will never forget this night.

World-Renowned Artists to Weave 'Music and Poetry of the Earth'
at Princeton University Chapel October 10 for D&R Greenway Fund-raiser
Paul Winter Consort and Poet Jane Hirshfield

D&R Greenway Land Trust invites the public to hear Paul Winter and his Consort,  interweaving their iconic music with the soul-stirring words of poet Jane Hirshfield, on Wednesday, October 10.
'Music and Poetry of the Earth' will unfold in the Princeton University Chapel, beginning at 7 p.m.  Jane Hirshfield's books and the Consort's CDs will be available for purchase after the performance.  A meet-the-artists reception in Firestone Library will follow, from 8:30 - 9:30 p.m.  Reception fees benefit the preservation mission of D&R Greenway Land Trust.[www.drgreenway.org - 609-924-4646]

Tickets for reserved performance seating, --which include the Meet-the-Artists Reception, where books and CDs will be signed, cost $75. Reservations are available directly through D&R Greenway Land Trust:(609) 924-4646.   Credit cards are accepted for phone orders, or checks made payable to D&R Greenway Land Trust.

For [non-reception] performance seating, ($35) and ($15) General Admission seating, call Princeton University at 609-258-9220.  To order $35 and $15 tickets on-line: http://www.princeton.edu/utickets/, or arrange in person at the Frist Campus Center Ticket Office, Monday-Friday, from noon- 6 pm. 

'Music and Poetry of the Earth' is co-sponsored by the Princeton University Chapel, the Lewis Center for the Arts at Princeton University, and Scott & Hella McVay.  Scott McVay is a co-founder of the Dodge Poetry Festival, where the Paul Winter Consort traditionally performs with poets.  Winter and Hirshfield first performed together at the 2008 Dodge Poetry Festival. Hirshfield will be a featured poet at the Festival at NJPAC in Newark, October 11 and 12.

Coming to Princeton is a natural for Jane Hirshfield, who graduated in
Princeton University's first class that welcomed women.  Inspired by both Eastern and Western poetry, Hirshfield's work utilizes a short form, hinging on a singular
turning point or moment of arresting insight.  "It is a pleasure and a
privilege to join the Paul Winter Consort and broader community in support
of D&R Greenway and its work in preserving and making available open space
in central New Jersey," says Hirshfield. 

Paul Winter declares, "I am excited about performing in the magnificent chapel, with its magical acoustics." The realm of this stellar musician has long embraced cultures and creatures of the entire earth, explaining his attunement D&R Greenway's mission: "I have admired their work since I had the privilege of playing at the opening of the Scott and Hella McVay Poetry Trail there in 2010. I feel a deep resonance with this well-run organization's efforts to preserve land in central New Jersey -- more than 17,000 acres! My collaborations with the McVays go back to the '70s, with our mutual interest in whales and poetry.  This we have celebrated during
twenty-five years of collaborations at the Dodge Poetry Festival."

BACKGROUND
Paul Winter, Paul Winter Consort

Paul Winter credits the songs of the humpback whales for opening the door for the six-time Grammy-award winning Consort, in the late 1960s, to what he refers to as "the greater symphony of the Earth." Since then, the extraordinary voices of whales, as well as those of wolves, eagles, elk, loon, and a score of other creatures have become part of the Consort's celebrations, awakening people to the plight of endangered species. Winter's tours and recording expeditions have taken him to fifty-two countries and to wilderness areas on six continents.  The musician has traveled on rafts, dog sleds, horses, kayaks, tug-boats, and Land Rovers.  The Consort's new work, launched last spring, Flyways, celebrates the immense bird migration from Africa through the mid-East to Eurasia.

As artists-in-residence at the world's largest Gothic cathedral, New York's St. John the Divine, the Consort has for three decades presented annual Winter and Summer Solstice Celebrations, as well as the ecological liturgical work, Missa Gaia/Earth Mass.  Winter has performed in major concert halls around the world, including Washington's National Cathedral, the Grand Canyon and the Negev Desert.

Jane Hirshfield

Poet Laureate Kay Ryan describes Jane Hirshfield as "a writer who demonstrates in every possible way that this life matters."  During her twenties, she was a full-time student of Zen for eight years, three of them in a monastery in silence.  She is featured, with W.S. Merwin, --recent U.S. Poet Laureate--, and His Holiness, the Dalai Lama, in the PBS special, The Buddha.  Hirshfield has authored nine collections of poetry; an anthology of women poets in praise of the sacred; and a group of essays on entering the mind of poetry, among other works.  Jane Hirshfield is a powerful reader of poetry and interview subject.  She has been featured in two Bill Moyers  PBS television specials, Fooling With Words and Sound of Poetry. In 2012, Hirshfield was elected a Chancellor of the Academy of American Poets.


The Princeton University Chapel

Completed in 1928, the Princeton University Chapel is the third largest
university chapel in the world. The Tudor Gothic building underwent a $10
million restoration in 2000-2002. There are more than 10,000 square feet of
stained glass, as well as wood carvings and stonework. The chapel is listed
as one of the great acoustic spaces of the U.S. and Canada, by the American
Choral Directors Association.

D&R Greenway Land Trust

Founded in 1989, the mission of D&R Greenway Land Trust is to preserve and
protect a permanent network of natural lands and open spaces, creating
conditions for a healthy and diverse environment.  It provides the public
with appropriate access to these lands, encouraging active lifestyles and a
greater appreciation of the natural world.  D&R Greenway Land Trust also
works to inspire a conservation ethic, promoting policies, educational
programs and partnerships that result in a public commitment to land
preservation and stewardship.  In its 23 years, the Land Trust has preserved
243 properties, or 17,126 acres, valued at over $360 million. For more
information, visit www.drgreenway.org

Be the first to know. Follow the blogs on Princeton Patch by liking us on Facebook, following us on Twitter and subscribing to our newsletter.