Concert and poetry reading opens McGillicuddy Humanities Center symposium Nov. 9 and Nov. 11

A choral concert and poetry reading commemorating World War I will be held Nov. 9 at the University of Maine and Nov. 11 at the Church of Universal Fellowship in Orono.

“We Are the Dead: The Legacy of Loss” is the first set of performance events in the UMaine Clement and Linda McGillicuddy Humanities Center’s yearlong symposium “War Without End: The Legacies of World War I.”  

The free public performance Nov. 9 begins at 7:30 p.m. in Minsky Recital Hall, followed by a reception in the lobby. The Nov. 11 performance at the Church of Universal Fellowship, 82 Main St., Orono, begins at 7 p.m. A suggested donation is $10 per person, with no admission fee for students.

Euphony, Orono’s chamber choir, will perform a program of period music by Ravel, Debussy, Holst and C.H.H. Parry; 21st-century choral settings of poetry written in the wartime context by Wilfred Owen, Siegfried Sassoon and others; and art songs by British composers killed in action.

Between the choral pieces, choir and UMaine faculty members will read selected wartime and modern poetry.

Francis John Vogt, UMaine Director of Choral Activities, will conduct the performances. The accompanist will be pianist Laura Artesani.