The Lisbon Poetry Orchestra is a multidisciplinary collective formed by musicians and poets who invite other artists to celebrate and interpret poetry in a unique journey towards the discovery and reinvention of the spoken word.
The collective’s first steps were taken in 2015, the year in which LPO presented the show “From Lisbon to the World” at the Centro Cultural de Belém. This concert was accompanied by an exclusive edition of a CD with the same title. In 2017, LPO published the book/CD “Poetas Portugueses de Agora” (Abysmo edition). This work presents a very unique creative methodology in which five poets (Valério Romão, Paulo José Miranda, Cláudia R. Sampaio, Filipa Leal and Daniel Jonas), based on a set of musical themes and inspired by them, wrote for an edition that includes the participation of the artist Daniel Oliveira.
Five years later, in 2022, the collective returns to editions with “Os Surrealistas”, dedicated to a group of artists and poets who, in a grey Portugal, realized the urgency of freedom. It is from the extraordinary legacy of this artistic movement that the LPO seeks the material to construct a book/CD with paintings by João Alves and photographs by Vitorino Coragem, as well as a show that is also a journey through the work of some of its most illustrious representatives.
António José Fortes, António Maria Lisboa, Alexandre O’Neill, Mário Cesariny, Fernando Lemos, Henrique Risques Pereira, Carlos Eurico da Costa, Pedro Oom, José Augusto França, Vespeira, António Pedro and Mário Henrique Leiria are some of the poets who inspired the LPO to develop an aesthetic and musical imaginary with a contemporary vision, where the techniques and style of this movement will be its main influence.
In addition to the dozens of shows that have taken the LPO across the country, the group has also served as a vehicle for the development of themed shows where music and poetry go hand in hand. “Poema Mundi – 1000 Words for Peace” (2022), “Cidade Nua – Poems for an Imaginary City” (2023), “Journey to Silence” (2022, an approach to the work of Miguel Torga with the Orquestra Domus), “O Mundo de Sophia” (2019) and “Se Eu Fosse Uma Nuvem” (2020, about the work of João de Deus) are some of the commissioned shows that the Lisbon Poetry Orchestra has presented in recent years on stages such as the Capitólio (Lisbon), CCB, or the Teatro de Vila Real.
Liane Halton graduated from Rhodes University in South Africa in classical guitar performance and composition. She is active in the Beijing music scene, having performed her own solo compositions as well as in bands of numerous styles, including pop, surf, punk, and noise. In addition to Poetry x Music, her other bands, past and present, include SEED, Boss Cuts, Juniper, Backseat Bingo, Xiao Wang 小王, and Kuduvillands.
Anthony Tao has lived in Beijing for the past 16 years. He is the author of the full-length poetry collection We Met in Beijing, and his poetry has appeared in publications such as Rattle, Prairie Schooner, Frontier, NPR, etc. He has worked an assortment of editing and writing jobs, and previously coordinated multiple editions of the Bookworm International Literary Festival. He publishes new poetry on his Poetry From Beijing newsletter (anthonytao.substack.com).
Ryan Etzcorn hails from Michigan and lives in Beijing. Before coming to the capital, he was a visiting scholar at Jinan University in Guangzhou and Beijing University’s School of Transnational Law in Shenzhen. Previously, Ryan lived as a professional touring drummer for the band Frontier Ruckus, performing across the U.S. and Europe. His current other bands in Beijing include Kuduvillands and Macondø.
Mike Fox is an English musician with 15 years of experience across many different genres. Since arriving in China in 2014, he has played with a host of different outfits, from punk to prog and contemporary to classical.
Poetry x Music explores the interplay between words and notes, combining original poetry by Anthony Tao with original music by Liane Halton. The Poetry x Music Band — featuring Ryan Etzcorn (drums) and Mike Fox (bass) — has performed in venues across Beijing, and is excited to present its work at the Macau Literary Festival.
The “Writing Myth” performance will include pieces inspired by Chinese philosophy (“Zhuangzi Dreams of a Butterfly”), modern folklore (“Kangding”), and timeless themes of family, history, and love (“Christmas alla Romana”). These are pieces rooted in the experience of individuals against the backdrop of tradition. The centerpiece is a suite of songs about the various stages of a relationship, from its uncertain yet passionate conception to its poignant and heartbreaking conclusion.
Peace Wong, nascida em Hong Kong em 1991 e atualmente residente em Taiwan, obteve o grau de mestre em Artes pelo Departamento de Inglês da Universidade Baptista de Hong Kong e o grau de mestre em Artes pelo Instituto de Pós-Graduação em Literatura Chinesa da Universidade de Donghua. Atualmente, é estudante de doutoramento no Departamento de Música da Universidade Nacional de Taiwan. A autora escreveu o álbum de música Street Worship about a Stalker e a coleção de romances Pornographic White Noise – That’s the Hormones Speaking, tendo esta última ganho vários prémios.Publicou por conta própria vários livros de artista, como Daily: Recording Notes, e Sapphic Soul Sapphire Soul. A sua primeira coletânea de poesia, It’s the Caffeine Dancing, foi recentemente publicada e galardoada com o primeiro prémio de poesia Zhou Meng Butterfly Award e o Openbook Good Book Award para Escrita Chinesa do Ano.
一九九一年生於香港，現居臺灣。香港浸會大學英文系，東華大學華文文學研究所藝術碩士，現為臺灣大學音樂所博士生。著有音樂專輯《路人崇拜 about a stalker》、小說集《色情白噪音 that’s the hormones speaking》（獲後山文學年度新人獎、入圍台北國際書展大獎、Openbook好書獎），同步發行實驗單曲〈你是我所有的前席，所有的前夕〉。自出版Artist Book數本：《日常：錄音筆記》、《sapphic soul 藍寶石靈魂》等。最新出版首部詩集《過動公寓 it’s the caffeine dancing》，榮獲周夢蝶詩獎首獎、Openbook好書獎年度中文創作。二○二四年始發動詩歌獨奏會「過動巡迴音 poetry recital tour」，徘徊喉嚨與樂器，指間與機器。
Peace Wong (b. Hong Kong, 1991) currently resides in Taiwan. She holds a Master of Arts degree from the Department of English at Hong Kong Baptist University and a Master of Arts degree from the Graduate Institute of Chinese Literature at Donghua University. She is currently a doctoral student at the Department of Music at National Taiwan University. She has authored the music album Street Worship about a Stalker and the novel collection Pornographic White Noise – That’s the Hormones Speaking, which was the recipient of the Houshan Literature Annual Newcomer Award, was shortlisted for the Taipei International Book Fair Award, and the Openbook Good Book Award.She has self-published several artist books, including Daily: Recording Notes and Sapphic Soul Sapphire Soul. Her first poetry collection, It’s the Caffeine Dancing, was recently published and won the first prize of the Zhou Meng Butterfly Poetry Award and the Openbook Good Book Award for Chinese Writing of the Year.