Christian Wiman and Tracy K. Smith

Acclaimed poets Christian Wiman and Tracy K. Smith join forces for a special pre-concert program of readings and reflections around the theme of creation. Together, they will curate an imaginative sequence of poetry and prose, drawing on their own celebrated works as well as voices across time, offering audiences a deeply human perspective on origins, wonder, and the act of making. Wiman, former editor of Poetry magazine and author of the National Book Award finalist Every Riven Thing , has been praised by The New York Times for work that is “restlessly searching, brilliantly restless.” Smith, who served as U.S. Poet Laureate from 2017-2019 and won the Pulitzer Prize for her collection Life on Mars , writes with what The Washington Post calls “a voice of lyrical clarity and cosmic scope.” As a prelude to The Creation , their readings open another path into Haydn’s vision: one shaped by the music of language — where creation unfolds in image, breath, and thought.