The Other Side of Air: A Celebration, in Poetry and Music, of Rainer Maria Rilke ON THE HUNDREDTH ANNIVERSARY OF HIS DEATH WITH MARK S. BURROWS & DAVID WHETSTONE

Description

2026 marks the 100th anniversary of the death of Rainer Maria Rilke (1875–1926). A celebrated poet in his lifetime, his writings have established him as one of the preeminent poets of our times. Rilke’s vibrant vision and verse elevated him to the status of an internationally recognized writer. His revolutionary poetic gifts blend praise and lament; his writings invite deep contemplation that allow for a type of seeing from the “inside” of things. His life story, shaped by a longing to blend solitude and community, gave birth to the groundbreaking Book of Hours (1915), the beloved Letters to a Young Poet, and the brilliant late poems: the breathtaking Duino Elegies and Sonnets to Orpheus. Join us for a magical, musical and poetic tribute to the genius of Rainer Maria Rilke as translated by Mark S. Burrows and with musical accompaniment by David Whetstone.

Mark S. Burrows is a poet, scholar, and teacher who has spent much of his life translating and interpreting Rilke’s poetry. His recent publications include an award-winning collection of poems inspired by the German mystic, Meister Eckhart’s Book of Darkness and Light (2023) and the first collection (in a bilingual German/ English edition) of poems by the celebrated German-Jewish poet Hilde Domin, The Wandering Radiance: Selected Poems of Hilde Domin (2023). Alongside his prize-winning translation of one of Rilke’s early works, Prayers of a Young Poet (later included as the opening section in The Book of Hours) is his new translation of Rilke’s Sonnets to Orpheus (2024). In October, 2024, he published a book (co-authored with Stephanie Dowrick) shaped by Rilke’s wisdom, You Are the Future: Living Your Deepest Questions with Rainer Maria Rilke. He lives and writes in Camden, ME. www. soulin-sight.org

David Whetstone is a sitarist-disciple of the renowned Ustad Vilayat Khan, having begun his studies in 1971. In 1988 at the age of 34 he received an American Institute of Indian Studies Senior Research Fellowship, and has collaborated and toured for over 40 years with poet Robert Bly and Rumi translator Coleman Barks, resulting in numerous recordings and films. He co-founded and was Artistic Director of Minneapolis’ Ragamala Music and Dance Theater, supplying the entire repertoire from 1992-1997. He premiered excerpts of his opera, White Nights, with the Rochester (MN) Orchestra and Chorus on Minnesota Public Radio. David teaches at Carleton and Macalester Colleges in Minnesota.