Texas premiere of Lara Downes' The Declaration Project with The University of Texas Symphony Orchestra, featuring new orchestral works by Valerie Coleman, Arturo O'Farrill and Christopher Tin.
Lara Downes brings The Declaration Project to Bates Recital Hall on Friday, September 18, with the University of Texas Symphony Orchestra. It's the Texas premiere of a project that's been traveling since its debut at Lincoln Center in New York City back in July.
The core of the evening is three new orchestral works commissioned for the project, each taking one of the founding ideals of the Declaration of Independence as its title: Life by Valerie Coleman, Liberty by Arturo O'Farrill, and Pursuit of Happiness by Christopher Tin. Those three are joined by two established pieces: Aaron Copland's Lincoln Portrait, narrated by Donnie Ray Albert, and John Adams' Short Ride in a Fast Machine. Farkhad Khudyev conducts the UT Symphony throughout the program.
There's a bit more to this than just the concert. The Declaration Project is a non-partisan national arts and humanities initiative built around those same ideals—life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness—and it brought together a network of institutions like Lincoln Center, Big Ears Festival, the Philadelphia Orchestra, and Cal Performances to commission the three new works. In Austin, KMFA Classical 89.5 served as a regional hub, inviting artists, students, and community members to submit original work across music, poetry, dance, spoken word, and visual art. The best entries were added to a national digital archive and considered for a video installation.
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So the evening is the local stop of a national tour that started in New York this past summer. It's at Bates Recital Hall, 2406 Robert Dedman Dr, on Friday, September 18, starting at 7:30 PM.
