BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//sebbo.net//ical-generator//EN NAME:Fayetteville Public Library X-WR-CALNAME:Fayetteville Public Library BEGIN:VEVENT UID:420fc13e-257c-43a5-87bc-cf4d2978553b SEQUENCE:0 DTSTAMP:20260715T221044Z DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20260503T140000 DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20260503T150000 SUMMARY:SoNA Beyond: Transcending Words LOCATION:Fayetteville Public Library\nFayetteville Public Library X-APPLE-STRUCTURED-LOCATION;VALUE=URI;X-ADDRESS=Fayetteville Public Librar y;X-APPLE-RADIUS=10;X-TITLE=Fayetteville Public Library:geo:36.0615332,-94 .1649741 GEO:36.0615332;-94.1649741 DESCRIPTION:Celebrate the power of poetry! The SoNA Singers and Arkansas P oet Laureate Suzanne Underwood Rhodes showcase the power of the written wo rd to inspire creativity across the arts..\nhttps://faylib.libnet.info/eve nt/16247211 X-ALT-DESC;FMTTYPE=text/html:

SoNA and the Fayetteville Public Library a re proud to present a special concert celebrating literary influences acro ss the arts. The SoNA Singers will perform choral works inspired by great poetry\, paired with Arkansas Poet Laureate Suzanne Underwood Rhodes shari ng some of those great poems. \; Rhodes will also debut newly commissi oned works as part of the performance. This event is free and open to the public.

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Learn more about SoNA Beyond &rarr\;

\n< h5>About the artists \;\n

The SoNA Singers\, the official symphony chorus\, are an auditi oned group of choral singers from throughout the region.

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T erry Hicks is in his thirty-fourth year as Director of Choirs for Bentonville Public Schools\, his seventeenth year directing the choir at First Christian Church\, Bentonville\, and his fourteenth year as director of the SoNA Singers. He also teaches AP Music Theory and has guided his c hoirs on numerous award-winning tours throughout the United States and Eur ope. He currently serves at the President of the Arkansas chapter of the A merican Choral Directors Association\, and has been recognized with the Ar kCDA Distinguished Director Award in 2001\, 2005\, and 2015. As a sought-a fter clinician\, he continues to share his expertise with choirs across th e region.

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Suzanne Underwood Rhodes is the Arkansa s Poet Laureate and was appointed to the position by then-Governor Asa Hut chinson in 2022. Her term will end once a new laureate is named. Suzanne i s the author of six poetry collections\, the most recent a chapbook\,  \;The Perfume of Pain. Her second full collection\, \;Fly ing Yellow\, was named a semi-finalist in the North American Book Awa rd. She also has published two volumes of lyrical prose\, Sketches of Home and A Welcome Shore. Her poems appear regularly in lite rary journals\, with recent work in The Bellevue Literary Review\ , Dappled Things\, Spiritus\, The Christian Century\, Southern Voices: 50 Contemporary Poets\, and Slant: A Journal o f Poetry. She was awarded the 2025 Governor&rsquo\;s Individual Artis t Award and was an Artist 360 grant awardee sponsored by the Mid-America A rts Alliance and the Walton Foundation. She has won numerous prizes for he r poetry\, including first place in the prestigious Sybil Nash Abrams awar d\, first place in the Dr. Lily Peters Memorial Award\, three Pushcart pri ze nominations\, and others. One of the great joys of serving as the state poet laureate was to bring "Poetry on Purpose" to dementia patients in a memory care center in Fayetteville and to teach poetry to formerly incarce rated women at Magdalene Serenity House \;in Fayetteville. Suzanne tea ches virtual poetry workshops at the Muse Writers Center in Norfolk\, Virg inia\, and is an adjunct instructor of English at John Brown University in Siloam Springs where she makes her home.

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For disability accom modations\, call 479.856.7250 or email \;questions@faylib.org \;2-3 weekdays before a program. Plan your visit by viewing our building map \;and details on accessibility services.

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\nhttps://faylib.libnet.info/event/16247211 URL;VALUE=URI:https://faylib.libnet.info/event/16247211 ATTACH:https://static.libnet.info/images/events/faylib/SoNA_Beyond_logo.jp g END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR