Little Talks: A Lecture by Simon Spalding

Craven Arts Council & Gallery is proud to present Little Talks in the Main Gallery at the Bank of the Arts. Little Talks is a casual lecture series that invites attendees to listen to experts on a given subject and participate in an open dialogue with the lecturer and other attendees. The upcoming Little Talks lecture will be given by Simon Spalding, a local composer and musician. During his lecture he will be discussing engaging communities through letterpress. 

Composer and musician Simon Spalding presents an informal discussion of the music score for Flight, a drama based on the lives and work of Wilbur and Orville Wright, as well as their talented sister Katharine. Flight is Spalding’s second collaboration with playwright Bill Hand. Their musical Honour, set in New Bern in 1802, was performed in 2020 and 2022. Simon will discuss how their collaboration was different for the new show, and how the two of them combined music and poetry from 1880-1910 with their own original tunes and lyrics. Simon will illustrate his program with examples of music from the show, singing and playing a mandolin similar to the mandolin owned and played by Orville Wright. Flight incorporates music from Scott Joplin, John Phillips Sousa, Harry Dacres, and other composers of the era, as well as poetry from Paul Laurence Dunbar, Ohio’s great African-American poet. Along the way, Simon will share anecdotes about the Wrights, and about the process of writing the score for a musical.

Tickets: $10 for CAC&G members, $15 for nonmembers, and free to children under the age of 18. Wine and other light refreshments will be provided.