The November concert is called The Poet Sings and will feature music in tribute to the great poets.  The program will feature Sonetos de Amor (Sonnets of Love) based on the poetry of revered Chilean poet and statesman Pablo Neruda by Los Angeles composer Shawn Kirchner. Also on the program will be Changed by Scottish composer James MacMillan which is based on Wallace Stevens’ poem The Man with the Blue Guitar which was inspired by Picasso’s painting The Old Guitarist.

Contributing to this program of new music, tenor Bryan Lane will premiere two songs by Ojai based composer Michael J. Bland, The Skies Swim and The Decaying Year. Set to texts by the ascetic and mysterious Victorian poet Gerard Manley Hopkins, the two pieces present an interesting juxtaposition: one offering an introspective look at Autumn and the other a bright and uplifting meditation on nature.