GRANITE FALLS, Minn. – Pioneer PBS and Southwest Minnesota State University will be co-hosting a screening of “Playing Haydn for the Angel of Death” at SMSU on Wednesday, May 10 at 5 p.m. SMSU is located at 1501 State St. in Marshall and the event will take place at the Conference Center’s Upper Ballroom located on the south side of campus. The event is free and open to the public.
This half-hour documentary takes viewers on a breathtaking trip to Reykjavik, Iceland. The film centers around a project led by Dr. Daniel Rieppel to pair the work of one of Minnesota’s most iconic poets and essayists, the late Bill Holm, to music. The film concludes with a performance where Holm’s epic poem cycle, “Playing Haydn for the Angel of Death,” is set to music composed by Martha Helen Schmidt and sung by Southwest Minnesota State University graduate and opera singer Ryan Hugh Ross. “So much of what singing is, you’re singing poetry,” said Ross. “So to have a resident poet among the faculty, Bill Holm, … it was kind of like the mythic creatures of Iceland. He was like a giant, or giant elf.”
With familial ties to Iceland, Holm’s family immigrated to Minneota. He was a professor at Southwest Minnesota State University and a McKnight Distinguished Artist who penned works about the beauty of Minnesota’s rural prairielands. Holm’s good friend and professor of music at SMSU, Dr. Rieppel, also features prominently in the film. Ross said that after Holm died in 2009, he and Dr. Rieppel wanted to pair Holm’s work with music, a task that they completed with the 2022 concert in Reykjavik. “[‘Playing Haydn for the Angel of Death’] deals with all the subjects that Bill loves most, … the themes of life and death and how we spend our life here on this planet,” said Dr. Rieppel.
The film was produced by Pioneer PBS’s Dana Conroy with videography by Pioneer PBS’s Ben Dempcy and Kristofor Gieske. It was edited by Mike Scholtz, a Duluth area filmmaker.
The event will include a screening of “Playing Haydn for the Angel of Death” along with a panel discussion with the filmmakers and Dr. Rieppel. Refreshments will be provided. RSVP is requested so adequate seating can be arranged. Please RSVP by visiting pioneer.org or by calling Pioneer PBS at 1-800-726-3178.
About Pioneer PBS
Pioneer PBS is an award-winning, viewer-supported television station, dedicated to sharing local stories of the region with the world. For more information visit: www.pioneer.org.
About Southwest Minnesota State University
Southwest Minnesota State University is a four-year public university offering a high quality education in the liberal arts and professions to prepare you for a life that is successful both personally and professionally. SMSU has grown into a university of choice with high national rankings, producing scholars who become the leaders, thinkers, and entrepreneurs of the future.