Spoon River House Festival

Click on the button above to open the door to your private viewing of 3 virtual performance experiences. Available only from December 5 to March 5, 2025. A small donation brings you to all three concerts of spoken word and song! View the teaser reels below.

From September 13-22, 2024, the Chicago Literary Hall of Fame presented Working In Concert’s festival of poetry and song inspired by Edgar Lee Masters’ Spoon River Anthology.

Welcome to the home of our good friends Ruth Fuerst and Jim Block, the very same house where Masters wrote his iconic work. Coincidences often inspire art so we are here today, celebrating friendship, truth-telling, song and your good company.

We are preparing a traveling version of the Festival, compiling songs and characters from each of the three components to take on the road. If you would like to bring this show to your community, please contact claudia@workinginconcert.org. We are especially eager to bring a shorter version to middle and high school assemblies.


TEASER REELS for the THREE SHOWS:

Friday: Characters

Eight bright talents from Chicago bring life to characters from the Anthology…

Saturday: Classical

The ghost of Edgar Lee Masters (Portrayed by Paul Geiger) leads us through a journey of music arranged by Lita Grier, x, and x.

We were sad to learn of Lita Grier’s passing earlier in 2024. We dedicate this concert to her memory. Lita Grier obituary

Sunday: Cabaret

We tune in to the songs Spoon River characters may have sung had they lived long enough!