Poetry & Music Project 21/22

Now in its fifth year, the Poetry & Music Project connects student poets and their words with composers to create original music and explore the connections between poetry and music.

This past year, Opera Omaha and the Nebraska Writers Collective invited Nebraska and Iowa students in grades K-12 to submit works of poetry on the theme of “Exploring Natural Beauty.” As part of the project, over 350 elementary, middle and high school students across the state took part in Poetry & Music writing workshops facilitated by NWC teaching artists.

Opera Omaha received 70 poems by 58 student poets from across 7 Nebraska counties: Cedar, Custer, Douglas, Holt, Otoe, Phelps, and Sarpy. There were many outstanding poems submitted to the project. After a blind review, project composers Matt Browne and Alexis Lamb selected eleven poems that they were inspired by to be set to music. As part of the process, poets and composers gathered virtually for music workshops. These workshops were a time for poets and composers to collaborate on the original pieces of music with Head of Music Sean Kelly and Opera Omaha’s Holland Community Opera Fellows.

The Poetry & Music Project pieces premiered with a concert on May 14th, 2022 at the Benson Theatre and via livestream. The concert featured the eleven original pieces performed by HCOF Fellows Jared Hiscock and Jaime Marie Webb and Opera Omaha Head of Music Sean Kelly, and was hosted by HCOF Fellow Fernando Antonio Montejano and Nebraska State Poet Matt Mason. Recordings of each song are available below.
The 2021-2022 theme, “Exploring Natural Beauty,” and subthemes, Passage of Time, Freedom, Reclamation, Solace, and Connectedness were inspired by artist Adam Larsen’s Nebraska: Flatwater. This immersive video installation explores the natural beauty of Nebraska from a different perspective. Nebraska: Flatwater is on view at Gallery 1516 from April 29-July 3, 2022.

Opera Omaha’s Poetry & Music Project is produced in continued partnership with Nebraska Writers Collective and supported in part by Humanities Nebraska.

2021-22 Selected Poems

“Controlled Chaos” Hanna Annis, Gretna High School

“Nature Reassembles” Audra Blessen, Gretna Middle School

“A Bit of Solace” Victoria Bogatz, Lewis & Clark Middle School (Bellevue)

“Dandelion Seeds” Reagan Cheleen, Gretna High School

“Alone” Tom Lacey, Gretna Middle School

“Caterpillar Songs” Ava Larson, Brownell Talbot

“Sea” Phoenix Nehls, Millard South High School

“Piano”, Vivian Williams Gretna Middle School

“Mountain Pride” Jackson Walters, Hayward Elementary

“Zoey the Jelly Fish” Zophia Warren, Hayward Elementary

“Let Me Be” Addison Bailey, Callaway High School

Recorded Pieces

“Zoey the Jelly Fish”
Words by Zophia Warren | Music by Alexis C. Lamb
Performed by
Jaime Marie Webb, Soprano
Sean Kelly, Piano



“Nature Reassembles”
Words by Audra Blessen | Music by Matt Browne
Performed by
Jared Hiscock, Baritone
Sean Kelly, Piano



“Controlled Chaos”
Words by Hanna Annis | Music by Alexis C. Lamb
Performed by
Jaime Marie Webb, Soprano
Sean Kelly, Piano



“Dandelion Seed”
Words by Reagan Cheleen | Music by Matt Browne
Performed by
Jaime Marie Webb, Soprano
Sean Kelly, Piano



“Sea”
Words by Phoenix Nehls | Music by Alexis C. Lamb
Performed by
Jaime Marie Webb, Soprano
Sean Kelly, Piano



“Mountain Pride”
Words by Jackson Walters | Music by Alexis C. Lamb
Performed by
Jared Hiscock, Baritone
Sean Kelly, Piano



“A Bit of Solace”
Words by Victoria Bogatz | Music by Matt Browne
Performed by
Jaime Marie Webb, Soprano
Sean Kelly, Piano



“Alone”
Words by Tom Lacy | Music by Matt Browne
Performed by
Jared Hiscock, Baritone
Sean Kelly, Piano



“Piano”
Words by Vivian Williams | Music by Matt Browne
Performed by
Jaime Marie Webb, Soprano
Sean Kelly, Piano



“Caterpillar Songs”
Words by Ava Larson | Music by Alexis C. Lamb
Performed by
Jaime Marie Webb, Soprano
Sean Kelly, Piano


Project Partners

Poetry & Music Project is supported by

Additional Poetry & Music Project partners include The American Opera Project and Gallery 1516.