SoNA Beyond

Transcending Words

Celebrate the power of voice! This concert pairs the amazing vocals of the SoNA Singers with the spoken word of two rising UA poets.

The Symphony of Northwest Arkansas and the Fayetteville Public Library team up with the University of Arkansas Program in Creative Writing & Translation for a free concert celebrating sung and spoken poetry. The SoNA Singers, directed by choral conductor Terry Hicks, will perform beautiful choral works while UA poets share the original poetry that inspired the concert pieces.

Poets Sylvia Foster and Erin Pinkham will also premiere newly commissioned works as part of the performance. In this event, we celebrate the transcendent ability of the written word, as well as the ability of music to transform words by providing color, context and emotion. This event is free and open to the public.

About the SoNA Singers:
The SoNA Singers are an auditioned group of choral singers from throughout the region. Directed by Terry Hicks, one of Arkansas’ most respected choral conductors, this group is SoNA's official symphony chorus.

About University of Arkansas Poets:

Sylvia Foster: Sylvia Foster is a poet and academic born and raised in central Arkansas.  She holds a bachelor's degree in English from Vassar College and is in the final stages of receiving an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Arkansas.  Her insatiable research practice, primarily focused around philosophy and history, fuels the content of her poetry.  She looks closely at the absurdity of human life and filters these revelations through her own memories and states of consciousness, resulting in poems that are brisk, distilled, and bordering on the surreal.

Erin Pinkham: Erin Pinkham (she/they) is a queer poet from North Texas.  Their work focuses on girlhood, and queer issues inspired by life in the south on her family’s tomato farm.  She is currently a fourth-year poetry MFA candidate at the University of Arkansas.  They will often be heard gushing about anime, spellcasting, her dog Willie, pink velvet fabric, and the Korean boyband, BTS.

Upcoming events