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October 1, 2001
Contact: Peter Bailley
news@knox.edu
309-341-7715
Poet Robin Metz and composer/pianist Bruce Polay will present their collaboration "Threnodies for the Dark Crossing" at 8 p.m., Monday, October 29, 2001, at The Redwood Library and Athenæum, Newport, Rhode Island. Metz will read selections from "Unbidden Angel," his award-winning collection of poems, while Polay will perform "Grasping for Silence," a series of piano solos inspired by Metz's book.
The event is a benefit for The Redwood Library and Athenæum, which was built in 1747 and is the oldest library in the nation. Introducing the performance will be Knox College Trustees John Podesta and Harold Bibb.
Also at the performance, Knox College and the Redwood Library will announce the inauguration of an internship program for Knox students. Students will receive housing and academic credit for work at the library in American history and literature, maritime studies, art history, theatre design, library science, public relations, and archival or art curatorial fields.
Related Pages
Biographies and photos (below)
May 2001 performance at the Galesburg Civic Art Center
More selections from "Unbidden Angel"
The Redwood Library and Athenæum
Performance arrangements - contact Robin Metz, 309-343-6746
Robin Metz
Robin O. Metz is Philip Sidney Post Professor of English and Director of the Program in Creative Writing at Knox College. He earned the bachelor's degree at Princeton University and the master of fine arts degree at the University of Iowa Writers' Workshop. Metz has taught at Knox since 1967.
Metz's works of fiction, non-fiction, and poetry have been published in a number of journals, including Abiko Quarterly (Japan), Medicinal Purposes, In Other Words: An American Poetry Anthology, Artlife, National Poetry Anthology, International Poetry Review, Farmer's Market, Visions International, Writers' Forum, Communique, The Paris Review, Epoch, Storytellers, Other Voices, Calypso, Mississippi Review, December Magazine, and Illinois Issues.
Metz's book of poems, Unbidden Angel, published in 1999 by Cross-Cultural Communications of New York, won the Rainer Maria Rilke International Poetry Prize. He has given readings from the book in London, Paris, Cracow, Prague, Venice, Edinburgh, Barcelona and throughout the United States.
Metz has won the Philip Green Wright Prize for Distinguished Teaching at Knox College, the Caterpillar Foundation/ Knox College Distinguished Achievement Award, and Grand Prize in the Mississippi Valley International Poetry Contest. He has received grants from the PEN/NEA (National Endowment for the Arts) Syndicated Fiction Project and the Illinois Arts Council. He is also co-founder and co-producer of Vitalist Theatre in Chicago.
Download photo of Robin Metz 300 dpi
Bruce Polay
Bruce Polay is Professor of Music at Knox College and Conductor/Music Director of the Knox-Galesburg Symphony. He has taught at Knox and directed the KGS since 1983. Polay earned his bachelor's degree at the University of Southern California, master's degree at California State University, and doctoral degree at Arizona State University.
Polay has composed a number of works for orchestra, chorus, solo voice and ensemble. He has won nine consecutive Standards Awards from the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers, and his composition "Tranquil Cycle for Tenor and Orchestra," won Honorable Mention in the 1993 ASCAP Rudolf Nissim Orchestral Composition Competition. Both Polay and the Knox-Galesburg Symphony have won top awards from the Illinois Council of Orchestras.
Polay has guest-conducted orchestras in the United States and other countries, including state orchestras in Ukraine and Belorus, seven in Romania, and two in Russia, including the Bolshoi Theater Chamber Orchestra in Moscow; Orchestra of the Swan at Stratford Upon Avon, U.K.; and Chamber Orchestra of the Emporda in Spain. He has performed as a recitalist worldwide, include a 1998 concert at Carnegie Hall.
Polay is a member of the Board of Advisors for the Barlow Endowment for Music Composition, and has served as a judge at the Ludmila Knezkova-Hussey International Piano Competition in Bathurst, New Brunswick, Canada; and the Midwest Young Artists Competition in Illinois.
Download photo of Bruce Polay 300 dpi
John Podesta
John Podesta is Interim Vice-Chair of the Knox College Board of Trustees and Counsel to the Interim President of the College. A 1971 Knox College graduate, Podesta earned his bachelorŐs degree in psychology. He received his law degree at Georgetown University Law Center, where he is currently Visiting Professor of Law, teaching courses in technology policy, congressional investigations, and public interest law. He has been a member of the Knox College Board of Trustees since 2000.
Podesta has extensive experience in government and public affairs. Most recently he was the White House Chief of Staff under President Clinton. Prior to that he held White House positions as Deputy Chief of Staff and Staff; counselor to the United States Senate Democratic Leader; chief counsel to the Senate Agriculture Committee; chief minority counsel to the Senate Judiciary Committee Subcommittees on Patents, Copyrights and Trademarks; Security and Terrorism; and Regulatory Reform; and counsel to the majority staff of the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Podesta has received both an Alumni Achievement Award and an honorary doctorate from Knox College. He gave the Commencement Address at Knox in June 1998 and the Opening Convocation Address in September 2000.
In 1988, he and his brother, Tony, founded Podesta Associates, Inc., a successful Washington, D.C. government relations and public affairs consulting firm. Podesta and his wife Mary have three children and live in suburban Washington, D.C.
Download photo of John Podesta 300 dpi
Harold Bibb
Harold Bibb is Professor of Biological Sciences and Associate Dean of the Graduate School at the University of Rhode Island. A 1962 graduate of Knox College, he earned his master's and doctoral degrees at the University of Iowa. He was elected to the Knox College Board of Trustees in 1992.
Bibb received post-doctoral fellowships from the National Institutes of Public Health and the United States Public Health Service, conducting research at the University of Victoria in British Columbia, and Brown University. He has taught and conducted research in developmental biology at the University of Rhode Island since 1972.
Bibb's research specialty is peripheral influences on the development of the nervous system and on neuronal production, differentiation, and loss in Rana pipiens larvae. He is co-editor of the book Developmental Neurobiology of the Frog, published by Wiley-Liss.
At the University of Rhode Island, he has served on the College of Engineering's Standing Committee on Diversity and the University's Information Resources Council; as Coordinator of Graduate Research Fellowships; and as Advisor for the New England Land-Grant Universities Student Exchange Program. He has been a member of the New England Board of Higher Education Doctoral Scholars Program for under-represented groups (African-American, Latino, and Native American) in science, mathematics, and engineering fields.
Download photo of Harold Bibb 300 dpi
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