Logan Skelton, composer and UM professor of piano, presents settings of American artists-poets working largely behind closed doors. In this first of two concerts, Skelton presents his 2008 Ohr Songs: The Mad Potter, settings of the writings of the eccentric American ceramic artist George Ohr, with projected images of Ohr's works. Skelton also presents his acclaimed settings of Tennessee Williams's poetry and the Michigan premiere of Clyburn Songs: A Kind of Weather (2009), settings of New Orleans poet and musician Marshall Clyburn. Ohr and Clyburn, working "behind closed doors," were able to develop without outside influence, pursuing their artistic visions with an all-consuming intensity. Skelton is joined by longtime collaborators Jennifer Goltz, soprano, and Professor Stephen Lusmann, baritone. The second concert is Sunday, November 14 at 8 pm in the Apse.

This program is copresented by the University of Michigan Museum of Art and the UM School of Music, Theatre and Dance.