Nina Cassian will read her poetry and later her music will be performed at URI in Kingston on Friday.

As a little girl living in Romania, Niña Cassian played Bach on the piano. But her teacher told her that her hands were too small for a concert career. Instead, she found her voice in poetry and composing music.

Those two sides of Cassian, a Holocaust survivor who is now in her mid-80s, are being showcased tomorrow at the University of Rhode Island.

Cassian will read her poetry from 4:45 to 6 p.m. in Swan Hall, 60 Upper College Rd., as part of URI’s Ocean State Summer Writing Conference. Then at 8:30 p.m., a concert of her classical compositions will take place in the Memorial Union Ballroom, 50 Lower College Rd.

A leading literary figure in Romania for more than 40 years, Cassian has written more than 50 books, including works of fiction and children’s stories. She has worked as a journalist, film critic and is a respected translator of Shakespeare and Bertolt Brecht.

Cassian published her first volume of poetry shortly after World War II, but for a while was unable to write due to censorship by the Romanian communist regime. It was then that she turned to composing music.

In 1985 she came to America to teach creative writing for a year at New York University. While in America, verses that Cassian wrote lampooning repressive dictator Nicolae Ceausescu were discovered in the diary of a friend who had been arrested in Romania. The friend was tortured to death, and Cassian had no choice but to seek asylum in New York, where she has lived ever since.

A few months ago, retired URI music professor Geoffrey Gibbs was asked to transfer old tapes of Cassian’s music to CDs. As he re-recorded the music and cleaned up the static, he was impressed at the quality of the pieces and wanted to have them performed at the university.

“It is unusual for an established poet to also be such a skilled composer,” said Gibbs. “Her music has the same deep feeling and humor one finds in her poetry.”

Tomorrow’s concert features a piano toccata written in 1953, while Cassian was still in Romania, along with two more recent compositions from her time in America. The Magic Clarinet has been performed at Carnegie Hall.

URI piano professor Manabu Takasawa will be joined by clarinetist Stephen Grueb for the event. Tickets are $8. Admission is free to writing conference participants.