Recipe For Wordstock Delight: A Sprinkle of Flash Choir's "Strangers Together"

The “Recipe For Wordstock Delight” posts will be a series of brief profiles of the events surrounding this years Wordstock Festival.  Inspired by the “Be a Literary Omnivore” catchphrase adopted by Wordstock and suggested by contributor Spencer Cushing, the “Recipe” posts will appear throughout the next week.

If all of the Northwest’s literary community is descending upon Portland to celebrate words, than part of the festivities must involve a tribute to William Stafford.  And the Flash Choir, led by Sarah Dougher and Pat Jankowski will do just that today at 3:00pm at Mississippi Studios.

Flash Choir’s latest project is entitled “Strangers Together,” and is a program of ten poems from William Stafford’s book Passwords, as composed by Ms. Dougher.  “Strangers Together” is described as a project that “engages the work of Stafford, exploring in particular themes of human connection to animals and the divine, as well as human connection with other humans.” While most experience poetry “sitting, silently, reading,” Flash Choir intends for the “choral rendition of [Stafford's] words in a public space [to] create an opportunity for communal listening, and most certainly a new way of hearing and understanding the work of Oregon’s first Poet Laureate.”

Flash Choir specializes in collaborative pieces and singing for public events, and has shared the stage with Pink Martini, the Portland Cello Project, and more, while performing in venues as varied as chapels, public squares, rock festivals, concert halls, and dive bars.  Check out Flash Choir’s website for a listing of upcoming shows.

Details-

What: Flash Choir presents “Strangers Together”

When: Sunday, October 11th, 3:00pm

Where: Mississippi Studios, 3939 N Mississippi Ave

Price: $10, buy tickets