On November 1st at Portland State University, the Portland Composers Jazz Ensemble will premiere six commissioned compositions inspired by six Oregon Book Award finalists and winners’ works.The 12-member ensemble performance draws literature by Oregonians spanning from a children’s book reimagining a Japanese folktale to a guide to keeping chickens in the city in Playing With Words and the sounds presented on stage are equally expansive.
Tickets are available at this link.
The composer/literary pairings are:
Tim Willcox inspired by Waka T. Brown’s The Very Unfortunate Wish of Melony Yoshimura
Hans Barkliss inspired by Josephine Woolington’s Where We Call Home: Lands, Seas, and Skies of the Pacific Northwest
Nicole Buetti inspired by Tove Danovich Under the Henfluence: Inside the World of Backyard Chickens and the People Who Love Them
Andrew Durkin inspired by Erica Berry’s Wolfish: Wolf, Self, and the Stories We Tell About Fear
Gordon Lee inspired by Stephanie Adams-Santos’ Dream of Xibalba
Ryan Meagher inspired by Patrick DeWitt’s The Librarianist
On Monday, October 7, PJCE will host a preview event of Playing With Words featuring a discussion between writers Stephanie Adams-Santos, Josephine Woolington, and Waka T. Brown and composers Gordon Lee, Hans Barklis, and Tim Willcox. The preview event takes place at Rose City Book Pub, and more information can be found here.
Authors and composers will be prompted by PJCE Artistic Director, Ryan Meagher, to discuss the creative process behind new music to be performed by the 12-piece Portland Jazz Composers Ensemble on November 1st at PSU as part of Literary Arts’ Portland Book Festival.
