Events › My Letter to the World: Emily Dickinson in Music

Join us in partnership with the Mayor's Office of Arts and Culture for this program incorporating music and poetry in celebration of National Poetry Month!  

Musicians of the Boston Festival Orchestra bring the voice of Emily Dickinson to life through an evening of music and poetry. This unforgettable program features chamber music composed entirely by living women, including art songs with texts derived from Dickinson’s most beloved poems. The musicians will be joined by former City of Boston Youth Poet Laureate, Alondra Bobadilla, who will recite selections from Dickinson’s catalogue and her own original poetry. Join us for this musical reflection on the intrinsic connection between music and poetry as told through the life of the beloved Massachusetts icon, Emily Dickinson.

Mezzo-soprano Alexis Peart, praised for her "plush yet robust voice" and "incredible clarity,” is a 2024/2025 Jane & Steven Akin Emerging Artist with Boston Lyric Opera, appearing as Arbate (Mitridate Re di Ponto), The Choreographer (The Seasons), and Mrs. Noah (Noah's Flood). Alexis is a 2023 Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition award winner and the 2024 Lyric Opera of Chicago Audience Favorite Award Winner. Alexis is a two-time alumna of the Wolf Trap Opera Studio (2020/2021) and is a 2025/2026 member of the Ryan Opera Center at the Lyric Opera of Chicago. This season, Alexis debuted with BMOP/Odyssey Opera (Lampito, Lysistrata), Boston Baroque (Ariodante (cover), Ariodante), Columbus Symphony (Alto Soloist, Messiah), and the Harvard Radcliffe Orchestra (Alto Soloist, Mahler Symphony No. 2). She returned for performances with Castle of Our Skins (Alto Soloist, Julia Perry's Stabat Mater), and re-joined Boston Lyric Opera as Hansel for their touring production of Hansel & Gretel. To learn more about Alexis, visit alexispeart.com.

Alondra Bobadilla was named Boston's first-ever Youth Poet Laureate in January of 2020. Alondra uses her writing to highlight social issues that impact her and her community. Through her work, she aspires to build bridges between different world views and unravel personal revelations of the bond between past and present, God’s providence, and the curious mundane. She is inspired by the beauty of transitory experiences and demonstrates how creative expression can be a powerful tool for youth to examine pressing topics and utilize their voice as a catalyst for social impact. She is the author of a collection of confessional-styled poems and journals entitled With Clipped Wings. Website: alondrabobadilla.com

Chinese pianist Ruoting Li is an artist of wide-ranging vision, known for her “eloquent, musical” (Fanfare Magazine) interpretations of contemporary music and her dedication to championing women composers. She has performed across the U.S., UK, Europe, and China, appearing at Carnegie Hall, Washington, D.C.’s Library of Congress, Boston’s Symphony Hall, and Beijing’s National Centre for the Performing Arts. Born in China, she was admitted to the Central Conservatory of Music Middle School at age 11 before earning both her Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from the Manhattan School of Music on a full scholarship. With a burgeoning international career as a solo and chamber musician, and several albums to her name, Ruoting serves as the Resident Pianist with the Boston Festival Orchestra. She also tours with the genre-defying trio TAKE3, known for their “bold, aggressive” (LA Times) performances and outreach events across the U.S. To learn more, please visit ruotingli.com.

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