Two chances to check out this sonnet-related performance:

• Saturday, October 10, Urbana Free Library, 4:30PM
• Monday, October 12, Rare Books and Manuscripts Library, Noon

Claire Happel, harpist, and Karisa Antonio, oboist, will offer a  concert and exhibit featuring works inspired by Rilke’s Sonnets to Orpheus. Their Rilke Project began with a 2011 performance of Elliott Carter’s Trilogy.

Happel and Antonio rehearsed Carter’s demanding piece for over a year before performing it in its entirety in 2011 and recording it in 2012.  They are returning to the work this year along with Harrison Birtwistle’s Orpheus Elegies for harp and oboe, a work which also uses text from Rilke’s Sonnets as inspiration.  The concert is supported in part by a City of Urbana Arts Grant.

The program will also project photos, illustrations, and letters from the Rare Book & Manuscript Library’s Rilke Collection, while the performers weave a narrative through Rilke’s life and artistic influences.

And now for something completely different: