tickets $40 | $25

BUY tickets

Saturday, April 18, 2026 at 7:30pm
Curtiss Hall at the Fine Arts Building
410 S Michigan Ave, 10th Floor, Chicago, IL​

Sunday, April 26, 2026 at 5pm
A Hyde Park, Chicago Home
Address sent upon ticket purchase

WordSong Chicago explores how one poem can be interpreted in multiple ways by readers, composers, and performers. Four musical settings of Chicago author Avery Zieper's poem "A Guide to the Moon" will be premiered, including piano/vocal settings by John Bitoy, Kyong Mee Choi, Robbie Ellis, and 2025 songSLAM Chicago commission prize winner Joshua Fath. Each of the four premiere works will be performed by members of Fourth Coast Ensemble alongside pianist and moderator Mark Bilyeu.. Attendees will receive an interactive guide to write down thoughts, reactions, and insights, and will be encouraged to engage in conversation with the composers and poet in attendance.  Tickets include a reception with small bites and refreshments.

about our venueS

Saturday, April 18, 2026 at 7:30pm
Curtiss Hall at the Fine Arts Building, Loop, Chicago

Designed in 1885 by architect Solon S. Beman, the Fine Arts Building originally housed the Studebaker Company’s carriage assembly and showroom. Completed in 1887, the Studebaker Building was 8 stories tall and one of the first steel-frame skyscrapers in downtown Chicago. It was quickly hailed as one of “Chicago’s architectural jewels.” By 1898, Studebaker had outgrown the space, and a renovation to transform the building into the Fine Arts Building was led by Charles C. Curtiss, who the 10th floor Curtiss Hall is named after. During these renovations, the carriage showrooms were converted to two theater spaces, the Studebaker Theater and a smaller music hall. The renovations transformed the building’s upper floors to offices, craft studios, and 65 music studios equipped with special soundproofing. An addition to the top of the building expanded the building to a total of 10 floors. At this time many of the building’s murals and motifs were added to the 10th floor.

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Sunday, April 26, 2026 at 5pm
A Hyde Park Home (Address sent upon ticket purchase)

The development of the Hyde Park community began in 1853 when Paul Cornell, a New York lawyer, purchased 300 acres of property from 51st to 55th Streets. Always a shrewd investor, Cornell deeded 60 acres to the Illinois Central Railroad in exchange for a train station and the promise of daily trips to the heart of Chicago's commercial core. The community continued to prosper over the next 30 years. By the late 1880s, transportation options in the area included the Cottage Grove cable car and dozens of trains leaving from the South Park station at 57th Street to the Loop. Hyde Park [was host to] two major events of the early 1890s. The first was the creation of the University of Chicago and the second was the World's Columbian Exposition of 1893. Through the first two decades of the twentieth century, a mixed-use pattern of six-flat walk-up apartment buildings interspersed with larger structures and a wide variety of commercial uses had become commonplace throughout Hyde Park. (Learn more at the Encyclopedia of Chicago).