April 14, 2025, 6:00 PM
Poetry and Music: Reflections for holy week
“Thy Thorns, My Flower / Thy Crosse, My Bower”
This service presents a narrative of humankind's sin and redemption told through poetry enriched with floral and faunal imagery. Featured writers include Christina Rossetti, Elizabeth Bishop, and Thomas Merton. The poems, chosen and recited by Kathryn Haydon, will alternate with David Sinden’s improvised musical responses on the 56-rank Mander organ of St. Peter’s.
St. Peter’s Episcopal Church is located at 110 N Warson Rd in Ladue, and ample parking is available in the lots surrounding the church.
Kathryn Haydon, Ph.D., is a plant scientist and independent literary scholar. She has given poetry recitations at literary conferences in Boston, Mass., Lausanne, Switzerland, and Ithaca, N.Y., as well as at the first Poetry and Music service held at St. Peter's in 2024. Her "tour de force of memorization," a recitation of the 999-line poem “Pale Fire” by Vladimir Nabokov, has been viewed over 6,000 times on YouTube since 2022.
David Sinden is an organist and choral conductor noted for his “centered leadership and solid musicianship.” Since 2015, he has been the Organist and Director of Music at St. Peter’s Episcopal Church, St. Louis. He has studied organ improvisation with Gerre Hancock, Bruce Neswick, William Porter, and Jeffrey Smith.