>> From the Library of
Congress in Washington D.C.
>> Pamela Jackson: Greetings.
So I'm Pam Jackson, Director
for the Center for the Book,
which includes the poetry
and literature center here
at the Library of Congress.
And I'd like to welcome
you this afternoon,
thank you so much for being here.
Today is a really, really special
day and we're here to celebrate
with a series of events that starts
with this afternoon's concert.
So, today we are here to celebrate
the conclusion of the second term
of the US Poet Laureate Juan
Felipe Herrera and what an honor
and a privilege it is to be here
to be part of this amazing day.
Especially because of the remarkable
and phenomenal artistry of this man.
I just use the word
"magical", just magical.
That's who you -- I'm
talking right now,
so just excuse me while
I talk directly to him.
But you know we're here to celebrate
you and honor you for your work
and your service to the
country and in representation
of the poet laureate ship.
There have been a remarkable
series of activities and events
over the last couple of
years, so today we celebrate
with some more remarkable events
culminating with a new concert today
and we'll follow by some
evening festivities I'll mention
just briefly.
But I'll start by saying that
today's series of events are brought
to you by the poetry
literature center in partnership
with the Library of Congress
American Folk Lives Center.
And the music and Hispanic divisions
of the Library of Congress.
And here at the Library it's our
mission to really promote ourselves
as the first cultural
institution and in service
of being the first cultural
institution we focus
on providing American people
and globally with a rich diverse
and enduring source of
knowledge that can be relied upon
to stimulate intellectual
and creative endeavors.
And we especially believe
that our poet laureate
and the events both today
and throughout the two terms
he served have done just that,
to empower us to expand
our thinking,
to have us be intellectually
and creatively endeavoring
on our own and for a purpose.
Because it's not just to do it
but it's for a purpose and one
of the things that we talk about
here is to broaden our sense
of the world through the arts
and the culture that we celebrate
at the Library of Congress.
So this afternoons event is
the first of Speak the People,
the Spark el poema event and
includes a choral performance
by the Fresno State Chamber Singers.
These singers hail from
Mr. Herrera's hometown
and will perform newly
commissioned pieces developed
in collaboration with
our poet laureate.
Their performance credits include
conventions, festivals and members
of the chamber singers have toured
Mexico, China and even Europe.
So, they're with us today to
conclude their own 2016/2017 season
with a fabulous presentation
of music, lyric and poetry.
So we're thankful to several
individuals from Fresno State
who are making this concert happen
including the dean of the College
of Arts and Humanities,
Saul Jimenez Sandoval.
Thank you.
Hello.
[ Applause ]
>> Associate Dean of
the College of Arts
and Humanities Honoraria
Chapman, hello.
[ Applause ]
>> Composers Benjamin
Boone and Kenneth Frolick.
[ Applause ]
>> And Choral director
Cari Earnhart.
And she'll be joining us
up front just shortly.
[ Applause ]
>> We'd also like to thank the
chair of the music department here
at the Library of Congress
Mathew Darling who couldn't be
with us today, but
sends his regards.
So, I will note for those of you
with us in the room and also those
of you online, first of all
let me stop and acknowledge.
We've got a lot of folks from Fresno
State in California with us online,
so say hello to the camera.
Welcome, welcome to you
across the country viewing us.
[ Applause ]
>> We want to make note that
the festivities will continue
after today's concert this
evening starting at 7:00 p.m. here
in the Thomas Jefferson Building,
downstairs in the Coolidge
Auditorium.
There's an event that
includes a panel discussion
about the continuing emergence of
Latino culture and its influence
on the nation featuring
our own Juan Felipe Herrera
and then that's followed
by a concert
with the Grammy award winning
East LA Chicano Rock band Quetzal
and they will be closing
out the celebration.
Now we should also mention there
are a couple of displays downstairs,
outside the Coolidge Auditorium
and the vestibule area from each
of the Library of Congress
units, the music division,
Hispanic division, poetry
and literature center
and American folk life center.
So, just a bit of housekeeping
before we get started
to avoid unnecessary distraction.
If you've not already done
so please take a moment
to silence your mobile devices.
And we are recording today's
event besides live streaming,
so if you do participate you'll
become part of our webcast
and you can feel free to look
for yourself online in our series
of webcast at loc.gov/poetry.
Now here to introduce the
program and participants
for this afternoon's concert is Dr.
Cari Earnhart who is the conductor
of the Fresno State Chamber
singers and also the director
of their chorale activities.
She's a phenomenal artist in her
own right and combines her careers
as conductor, teacher and singer.
She's in demand as a
conductor, clinician and educator
and has worked with choirs
all over the US and abroad.
She holds degrees in vocal
performance and pedagogy
with advanced degrees
in choral conducting
and related field studies
and vocal pedagogy.
Please welcome Cari Earnhart
and the Fresno State Chorale.
[ Applause ]
>> Cari Earnhart: On behalf of
California State University,
Fresno and the College of
Arts and Humanities I would
like to thank you all for joining
us today and we are so honored
to be a part of this
event Juan Felipe.
I would also like to take a moment
to thank our provost
Lynette Zalezny,
our Dean Saool Himina Sendoval
and our associate dean Nora
Chapman for joining us today.
[ Applause ]
>> And for their immense
support, thank you so much.
I arrived in Fresno about
nine months ago and soon
after had the opportunity to meet
Juan Felipe for the first time
as he asked me to put together
a choir for this event.
And during that time we have had
the distinct honor of getting
to know Juan Felipe and learn
about this extraordinary man,
not only through his words but
through the generous spirit
with which he approaches
life every day.
Today's program will feature five
new compositions by my colleagues,
Dr. Ben Boone and Dr. Ken
Frolick and you should know
that this is the first time Juan
Felipe's words have been set
to song, and been given a
new life beyond the page.
These pieces as you will
see, tell the story of a man
and his journey not just through
the last two years as poet laureate,
but they also beautifully highlight
those that have played a role
in who he is today, from his parents
to his school teacher Mrs. Sampson,
who helped him find his voice,
to his student Mia Barraza
the fireball of his life.
And events from his
tenure as poet laureate
that have touched his heart.
This program will then conclude
with a piece called the road,
written by Dr. Frolick
which reflects a tapestry
of sound reflected in this piece
which highlights the journey
of Juan Felipe's voice
and the many voices
that have helped him along his road.
I would like at this time to express
my sincere gratitude to Juan Felipe
for asking us to be a
part of his journey.
Thank you.
[ Applause ]
[ Music ]
>> Juan Felipe Herrera: From sunrise
I will walk across the wilderness
of desert storms and thorns across
the darkness of moonlit storms.
I will sow all the
lost giving songs.
I will gather all the
flourishing words.
I will remember all
the ancestors gone.
[ Music ]
>> Juan Felipe Herrera: I am
your youngest horse bred child
and I will say to others for
each and every one of you I sing.
I am your youngest horse bred child.
I will say to the others for each
and every one of you I will sing.
For each and every one
of you, I will sing.
[ Music ]
[ Applause ]
>> Juan Felipe Herrera:
And the song,
the song began back in third grade.
I was in Logan Heights , San Diego
and I was always you know speaking
in Spanish, that's my language
and I had been prohibited
from speaking in Spanish.
And the day came when Mrs. Sampson,
Mrs. Lellia Sampson in Logan Heights
in San Diego, California said,
"Come on up to the front, come on.
Come on up and step to
the front and sing".
And I said "I don't
know if I can do that".
To myself I said, "I don't think
so, no one has ever said that to me.
No one has ever invited
me to the front, no one".
So what does that mean?
So I stepped up to the front
as best as I could and I sang,
I sang Three Blind
Mice, the great opera.
And then she turned to me and she
said, "You have a beautiful voice".
And from that day on to this
very day, this very moment
that was the key to my life.
And I took that key
and I took those words
and I gave them to everyone I could.
That's what she was
telling me that the beauty
in my voice was the beauty
in everyone's voices.
Yes.
[ Music ]
[ Applause ]
>> Juan Felipe Herrera:
And that voice kept
on singing and began to grow.
It began to glow, as time went
on and then what happened was
that at Fresno State recently
I opened up the laureate lab,
President Costa was so kind.
And Provost Lynette
Salezny was so kind
and the librarian was
so kind Peter McDonald.
And Saool Himenez, Sandoval our
dean of humanities was so kind.
And a student came and became
my, one of the students that came
to be a grad assistant for the lab
where we explore and experimented
with words and paint and plastic
walls and murals and sculptures
and paper and plaster and sounds,
with poetry, Mia [Spanish] Martinez.
She was just so eager and interested
and full of intensity and passion
for the language and
poetry, beautiful talent
and amazing woman was
coming to class one day.
Was coming to the college one
day and was a torrential rain
at that particular moment and
she was getting on freeway 41.
So she made it to the freeway and
that rain and all that happened
at that moment caused
her car to flip
over into the next lane
of the opposite way.
And a big truck came and
that was the end of her life.
So, in one of her poems she --
which is called "I am this
United States" shows you the kind
of passion she has, she had
and continues to have today
with this beautiful, amazing choir.
And that's the intensity and
that's the poem that we are going
to sing this beautiful choir
is going to present to you.
Mia [Spanish] Martinez's
words, her poems.
In honor of her and all our --
all the women, all the students
and all of you and everyone.
[ Music ]
[ Applause ]
>> Juan Felipe Herrera:
And that song is based
on Mia [Spanish] poem parading
down Blackstone Avenue.
And that voice, that poem has
reached all of us with the voices
of our chamber singers and
now you have her voice,
her encouragement and her energy.
And then it makes me ask the
question what can a poem do?
What can we do when
something takes place?
Something that leaves us helpless?
Something that's far
away, maybe it's Boston,
maybe it's a terrible incident
and maybe it's the massacre
that we all know about
in South Carolina.
So I said what can I do?
I think what we can all do is make
an offering, maybe just to meditate
on it, maybe it's to say hello.
Maybe it's to let go of some
of the things that keep us
from being really intimate and
caring and maybe it's also a poem
that we can write and
send to the people.
And this poem, by poem speaks about
this and it was actually received
in South Carolina and was put on
a newsletter throughout that area
in particular and the church
where all this took place.
Poem by poem, we can
end the violence.
[ Music ]
[ Applause ]
[ Music ]
[ Applause ]
[ Music ]
>> Juan Felipe Herrera:
What are you?
What am I?
Yes, what are you?
What am I?
I'm a seventh grader.
I come from [Inaudible] I'm an
only son, I come from the fields.
What are you?
I am not a place.
I do not know where,
I'm not a street.
I'm here. Invisible.
What are you?
I do not know, I must be
something, maybe from the islands.
Maybe I'm Hawaiian.
I want to say Mexican.
Mexican, but I cannot say it.
The fire inside is all I have.
You know if I had a saxophone I
would blow it on all the streets
and I would open its bell shaped
golden mouth if I could blow.
If I could make the
streets come alive.
I could make every
boy and girl dance.
I could blow on pawn
shop row like a prince.
Play then.
Dance then.
The golden light of your voice.
Voice? Voice?
Voice? If only I had
a voice, I would sing.
I would ring all the
bells, I would --
I could tell you about things that
I've not been told from fields,
from the mountains and valleys,
the yards and the migrant fields.
I would say we are one.
Play then.
Dance then in the golden
light of your voice.
No saxophone for me.
No spoon band chants for me.
I will hide behind the sax; I will
peak from every key of the sax,
from the front to the back.
I want to break free from all
the lies, I want to break free
from all the shame of being so
alone with words that are alone too,
with a melody or a tone
speaking the words like
"Buenos Dias", "Buenos Dias Luna".
I want to break free from me, my
voice alone sometimes like a cry.
My voice, alone under
the trees, up so high.
And the voice came in the 60's, yes.
It came, it came.
Liberation saying, [Spanish] they
called power, power they called,
power black power, they called brown
power, they called women's power.
Power, power, power gay, power
red, power yellow, power, power,
power, power for the people.
Power, power, power,
Martin Luther King,
Cesar Chavez [Spanish]
for you and maybe me?
On the road.
Where do I go?
But how to make my voice fly?
How do you make your voice know why?
How do you bring your
voice to the people?
Do you stand on a hill?
A steeple or just take
a step on the road near
and far, [Spanish] far, far, far.
Take a step.
On the road.
Come up to the front.
But where?
How far? The road of the people.
Do they have a voice?
Who stole it?
You? Me? Why aren't they heard?
Did you stop them?
You have a voice, don't you see?
You can tell their stories,
they can speak them,
can you write them,
can you see them?
Now is the time be a poet.
Be a poet, a new sign.
Don't forget now is the time.
all the voices, made of life.
Made of love, now is the time.
All the voices, made of
life, of love, of strife.
Do you dare?
I do not know.
What if no one understands?
What if there is no choice?
What if no one cares?
And what if I have no voice?
The road is long.
The road is made of
flowers and songs.
The road is lost, no one
knows, the road is you.
The road is new.
When do I act?
What do I do?
Ask the pot and the pans.
Ask the spoons, hear them croons.
Ask the tortilla roller,
rolling along.
Ask the griddle, the [Inaudible]
in the middle of it all.
Ask the [Inaudible] black and deep,
round and funky red
where things burn.
Where things churn.
I am the [Spanish], be like me.
I'm [Spanish] smasher, be like me.
[Spanish] The one that
dips into the stew.
The one the witches
turn and spin and brew.
The one that feeds the
child, the creative you.
The one that tickles
the wild, the soul.
The one that tastes
like lizards [Spanish],
the one that turns
you into a wizard.
The one that carries
water for you to grow.
I am [Spanish] the one
that holds everything,
the table that brings la
familia together, yeah.
Give me a word, not absurd.
Give me another word.
Give me a spicy word.
Give me a wisdom word.
Give me a word for others.
Give me a word for peace.
Give me a word to teach.
Give me a word for love.
[ Music ]
[ Applause ]
>>Rob Casper: Wow that was amazing.
Thanks so much to all of
you and thank you Cari
for an incredible performance.
Thanks to everyone at Fresno State
who helped to make this possible
and of course thank you to our
dear wonderful 21st poet laureate
consultant in poetry
Juan Felipe Herrera.
[ Applause ]
>> Rob Casper: I just have
two quick things to tell you
and then you can go
out and enjoy the day.
One you should have gotten
surveys with your programs.
If you don't mind filling them
out and you can leave them
on your chairs or put them
in the back, hand them to me.
They're really helpful for us when
we work on the future programs.
Two, as we talked about --
Pam talked about a little
before there are events going
on this evening a 7:00 performance
downstairs in the Coolidge.
And outside in the foyer of the
Coolidge there are amazing displays
of materials from our collections
from the four co-sponsoring
library divisions
who are helping make this possible,
so go down and check out the foyer.
Make sure to come back early,
it's going to be a
packed performance tonight
and we hope to see you there.
Thank so much.
[ Applause ]
>> This has been a presentation
of the Library of Congress.
Visit us at loc.gov.