SOTA II student Anna Durall and her mother, Diana, meet with composer Mary Ellen Haupert (right), a member of the music faculty at Viterbo University to discuss the composition based on Anna’s poem about compassion.

The poetry of La Crosse school students is being set to music and will be performed Nov. 8 and Nov. 9 by The La Crosse Chamber Chorale.

The Chamber Chorale’s ninth Words to Music program will feature original compositions based on the poetry of four students from the School District of La Crosse.

The students’ poems — all based on the theme of compassion — were chosen from submissions made last school year and selected through a process designed to preserve anonymity. The poems chosen (and the students’ school last year) were written by: Samantha Van Der Molen (SOTA I); Anna Durall (SOTA II); Madeline Slade (Lincoln); and Kaori Pantaleon (Lincoln).

Winning poets had a chance Oct. 6 to meet with the composers who chose to set their words to music.  Composers reviewed the score and discussed the process of writing music, giving students a chance to see and hear how their poems inspired the creation of new choral music.

The La Crosse Chamber Chorale, led by Dr. Paul Rusterholz, wanted to build on the work of the successful Compassion Project, which was a collaborative project between the School District of La Crosse, the La Crosse Public Education Foundation and the Pump House Regional Arts Center.

The Words to Music project was underwritten in part by a $1,250 grant from the La Crosse Public Education Foundation.

The new works will be performed as part of two concerts:

• Saturday, Nov. 8 at 7:30 p.m. at the First Lutheran Church, 410 Main St. in Onalaska.
• Sunday, Nov. 9 at 3 p.m. at the English Lutheran Church, at 16th and King streets in La Crosse.

Tickets are $20 for adults and $10 for students. To order tickets, go to the Chamber Chorale website.