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Collaborative Recital: Smoke in a North Wind: Songs from a Machine Age — NDSU and Concordia College
Kyle Vanderburg and Doug Harbin’s *Smoke in a North Wind* pairs mirrored Sandburg song cycles in collaborative recitals at NDSU and Concordia College.
Overview
Kyle Vanderburg and Doug Harbin present *Smoke in a North Wind: Songs from a Machine Age*, a collaborative recital centered on two independently composed song cycles setting the same Carl Sandburg poems. Harbin’s cycle presents the poems in their original sequence, while Vanderburg’s proceeds in reverse, creating a mirrored musical structure across the program. Featuring soprano Mara Campbell and pianist Jo Marie Fike, the two-performance project is scheduled for September 24 at NDSU and September 25 at Concordia College.
Professional Context
This collaborative recital represents the creation and regional dissemination of new vocal music through a partnership between composers Kyle Vanderburg and Doug Harbin and professional faculty performers. The program is structured around two independently composed song cycles setting the same Carl Sandburg texts in opposite orders, creating a larger mirrored form across the recital. Performances at both NDSU and Concordia College extend the project beyond a single institutional venue and demonstrate sustained collaboration among composers and performers within the region. The program also includes Vanderburg’s *Hallucinations*, connecting the recital with his continuing creative work exploring artificial intelligence, text generation, and vocal composition.