A collaboration between the Charlotte Symphony and Queens University of Charlotte where music and poetry come together to explore the human experience.
Words + Music: From Darkness to Light comes to the Sarah Belk Gambrell Center on Wednesday, October 28, at 7:30 PM. It's a collaboration between the Charlotte Symphony and the English Department at Queens University of Charlotte, and the title tells you exactly what's on the table: music and poetry working together to look at the human experience, from grief and loss to remembrance, transformation and healing.
The format is the interesting part. Student writers and performers from Queens pair original poetry with orchestral works, so the spoken word and the symphonic voice run side by side throughout the night. The whole thing is presented in partnership with Queens University of Charlotte.
On the music side, conductor Christopher James Lees leads the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra through a wide-ranging program. You'll hear Beethoven's Overture to Egmont and the Allegretto from Symphony No. 7, Tchaikovsky's Pas de Deux from The Nutcracker, and the Lebhaft from Schumann's Symphony No. 3 'Rhenish'. Mussorgsky's Night on Bald Mountain and Offenbach's Overture to Orpheus in the Underworld bring some higher energy, while Copland's Variations on a Shaker Melody from Appalachian Spring and Brahms' Hungarian Dance No. 5 round things out. It's a mix of heavy hitters and lighter moments, and the poetry is woven in between.
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Tickets are $35, and the show runs from 7:30 PM to 9:00 PM at the Sarah Belk Gambrell Center for the Arts & Civic Engagement, 2319 Wellesley Ave. in Charlotte.
Date
Wednesday, 28 October 2026
19:30
Price
Paid
Recommended Age
+14 years
