Poetry of William Blake set to music Sunday, Aug. 20 at Church of Beethoven-Oak Park

Church of Beethoven-Oak Park will present Tenor Henry Pleas III accompanies by Margie Arito on oboe performing Ten Blake Songs by Ralph Vaughn Williams on Sunday, Aug. 20 at 1030 a.m. at Open Door Theater in Oak Park.

Except for the last poem set, "Eternity," the Ten Blake Songs are taken from William Blake's Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience. Vaughan Williams wrote these miniature masterpieces of melody and economy over the Christmas holidays in 1957,the year of Blake's bi-centennial birthday.

Written to accompany Guy Brenton's 1958 Morse Films production, The Vision of William Blake, the songs were first performed on the BBC's Third Programme, October 8, 1958, a little over a month after the composer's death. They are dedicated to tenor Wilfrid Brown and oboist Janet Craxton, who performed them in the movie.

Henry Pleas III has appeared as leading tenor in operatic productions throughout the United States. He has appeared as soloist for Lyric Opera of Chicago, Opera Grand Rapids, Skylight Opera Theater, Chicago Opera Theater and South Shore Opera Company of Chicago. He has appeared in the title role in Tales of Hoffmann, Rodolfo in La Boheme, Tamino in the Magic Flute, Turiddu in Cavalleria Rusticana, and Don Jose in Carmen, among others. Recently he performed the role of Ben Ross in Nkeiru Okoye's Harriet Tubman: When I crossed that Line to Freedom for the South Shore Opera Company of Chicago. Pleas is the founder and CEO of the Unveiled Voices Project (UPC). In 2017, The Unveiled Voices Project released the recording Come Down Angels!: A Program of Vocal Works by WomenComposers featuring Henry and pianist Casey Robards. UPC has also been developing upcoming performances of In a Persian Garden: The Life of Liza Lehmann.

Margie Arito is in her 21st season as a member of the DuPage Symphony Orchestra where she holds the Principal Oboe chair, is a member of the DSO Woodwind Quintet and has been a featured soloist with the orchestra. She has played in countless orchestra pits and with many other ensembles, including City Lights Orchestra, Downers Grove Chorale and the Tower Chorale as well as for several local Universities. For 20 years she has performed regularly at Oak Park's Ascension's Taiźe prayer services, as well as at Sunday masses, and for weddings. She also teaches a large studio of private oboe students.

The performance starts at 10:30 a.m. at Open Door Theater, 902 S. Ridgeland Ave. in Oak Park. Tickets cost $10 per adult and $5 for students. Tickets are available here: http://www.churchofbeethoven-o...

The Church of Beethoven is "...a 'church' with no preaching, just uplifting music, poetry and two minutes of silence in an all-too-busy world." The goal of the Church of Beethoven is to build a "family friendly" sense of community around the arts, by removing the typically formal atmosphere of classical music, by breaking down the proverbial "fourth wall" between the audience and the performers. Featuring intimate Sunday morning performances by professional poets and musicians, it is located in the Arts District of Oak Park Illinois on Harrison St.. The original Church of Beethoven was founded in Albuquerque, New Mexico by Oak Park native and classical cellist Felix Wurman in a repurposed gas station on historic U. S. Route 66. The Albuquerque Church grew out of its humble beginnings and moved into The Kosmos, a larger arts space. Felix Wurman died of cancer in 2009, but the Church of Beethoven lives on in Albuquerque and has sprouted new branches in Durham, North Carolina, Tuscon, Arizona, Washington DC and here in Oak Park, Illinois.