Shakespeare Through Music

Name: Shakespeare Through Music
Start: 2026-06-09T13:00:00-05:00
End: 2026-06-09T15:30:00-05:00
Location: 1301 Olive St, St. Louis, MO, United States, Missouri 63103

Schedule

Tue Jun 09 2026 at 01:00 pm to 03:30 pm

UTC-05:00

Location

1301 Olive St, St. Louis, MO, United States, Missouri 63103 | St. Louis, MO

Shakespeare is recognized by many to be the greatest English dramatist; music greatly enhances the impact of words. It’s no surprise then that dramas of Shakespeare set to music as opera, ballet, or film are unique.
Join presenter Stan Misler as you read Hamlet, Othello and Much Ado about Nothing, listen to the operas by Thomas, Verdi and Berlioz and begin to analyze and compare. Review Romeo and Juliet, watch MacMillan’s ballet (set to music by Prokofiev) and judge how dance with complex mime tells an intense love story.
Six classes across seven weeks. 1 - 3:30 PM. No registration required.
Session 1 (6/2): Introduction to Shakespeare: setting Romeo and Juliet to music
Session 2 (6/9): Building a Shakespeare Opera: Thomas, Hamlet
Session 3 (6/16): The Greatest Operatic Tragedy: Verdi/Boito, Otello
Session 4 (6/30): Great Comic Opera: Berlioz, Beatrice et Benedict; Verdi /Boito, Falstaff
Session 5 (7/7): Shakespeare set to music potpourri: incidental, film and dance
Session 6 (7/14): (a) What’s in a Shakespeare song? (b) Musical whodunit
Presenter: Stanley Misler, MD, PhD
Emeritus Faculty, Internal Medicine and Cell Biology / Physiology, Washington University Medical Center
For information about parking, see the Central Library Parking page. For information about accessibility, visit our Accessibility & Accommodations page.
Contact Wes Harbison with questions. See contact information box.