2012 String Poet Prize Ceremony & Issue Launch – May 25

Join us for a special Studio Series event at Steinway Piano Gallery on Friday, May 25^th at 7:00 PM, as we once again bring together music and poetry to celebrate the winners of the 2012 String Poet Prize and the launch of Volume II, Issue 1 of String Poet. Hosted by String Poet Founder and Editor Annabelle Moseley, this event includes a concert by composer and pianist Barry Tognolini, and reading by Finalist Judge Kim Bridgford. Our evening culminates with the launch of the journal, and the reading of the First Prize-winning poem, “Upkeep,” by J.D. Smith, followed by the premiere of Barry Tognolini’s inspired composition.

Please note the change of venue for this special event. We have more seats available, so invite your friends! Buy your ticket early to get the advance discount.

Order 2012 String Poet Prize Award Ceremony

General Admission @ $10.00 Qty:

Final Judge: Kim Bridgford. Dr. Bridgford is the director of both the West Chester University Poetry Center and the West Chester Poetry Conference. She is editor-in-chief of Mezzo Cammin, and founder of the Mezzo Cammin Women Poets Timeline Project, designed to become the world’s largest database of women poets. She is the founder of the literary journal Dogwood, and is the author of five collections of poetry, including In The Extreme, winner of the Donald Justice Prize.

Composer: Australian pianist and composer Barry Tognolini has been performing professionally since the age of thirteen, when he became a regular guest on a TV variety program showcasing young talent in Perth, West Australia. Since that time, he has enjoyed a varied and rewarding career, referred to by New Idea magazine as “pianist to the rich and famous.” Barry has performed with Celine Dion in a concert for children in Perth, and with Andrea Bocelli, Sara Brightman, Lara Fabian and Katherine McPhee at an exclusive concert at the Dallas Country Club. Barry has performed on the QE2, has toured with the African Children’s Choir, and has guest starred at the New South Wales Premier’s Concerts in the Sydney Entertainment Center- an event that attracted over thirty thousand patrons. However, his most memorable touring performance was a concert in Tirano — a little village high up in the Italian Alps where his ancestors once lived. Having released previous CDs with Sony Music Australia as well as his own label, Barry’s latest recording project is “Treasure Road,” a 24-track double CD collection featuring both well-known and original compositions.

J.D. Smith will have two books published in 2012: his third collection of poetry, Labor Day at Venice Beach, and his first humor collection, Notes of a Tourist on Planet Earth. He is currently circulating a collection of poems in formal verse and working on projects in several genres. Smith lives and works in Washington, DC.