March 30, 2026, 6:00 PM
A Marian Passion Ballad
Poetry and Music returns to St. Peter's for a third year with A Marian Passion Ballad, a selection of poems by Robert Buchanan, Rainer Maria Rilke, Christina Rossetti, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Gerard Manley Hopkins, and Alfred, Lord Tennyson. The poems, curated and recited by Dr. Kathryn Haydon, will alternate with David Sinden’s improvised musical responses on the 56-rank Mander organ of St. Peter’s.
The service portrays the joys and sorrows experienced by some of Jesus' most devout followers: Mary the Mother, Mary of Bethany, and Mary Magdalene. The six poets featured all lived and wrote during the Victorian era, and most were connected through personal relationships either friendly, familial, or fractious.
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 Poetry and Music services held at St. Peter's in 2024 and 2025. Her "tour de force of memorization," a recitation of the 999-line poem “Pale Fire” by Vladimir Nabokov, has been viewed over 8,700 times on YouTube since 2022.
David Sinden, noted for his “centered leadership and solid musicianship,” has served as the Organist and Director of Music at St. Peter’s Episcopal Church in St. Louis, Missouri, for the last decade. He previously served in the same capacity at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, in Richmond, Virginia. As an organist, Mr. Sinden has appeared at conventions of the Organ Historical Society, the Hymn Society of the United States and Canada, and the Anglican Association of Musicians. He is active in the St. Louis Chapter of the American Guild of Organists and is past Dean of the Indianapolis Chapter.