“Lara Downes is a uniquely gifted, acclaimed and curious artist who recognizes the complexity of our collective narratives of ourselves and our country in everything she does. This project creates spaces for us to listen in a new way and participate in a shared imagining all led by the belief that we are stronger together.”
DECLARATION
July 4, 2026 marks the 250th anniversary of the United States, founded on the principle that its citizens would be promised the unalienable rights of “Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.” Iconoclastic pianist Lara Downes examines each of these three core concepts through the lens of our nation’s complicated past and present as she observes the United States' Quarter Millennial with DECLARATION, a groundbreaking project for piano and orchestra that weaves together music and personal narrative in a contemporary declaration of our collective hopes, struggles, and untold histories.
Respectively titled Life, Liberty and Pursuit of Happiness, this triptych of newly-commissioned works from Grammy award-winning composers Valerie Coleman, Arturo O'Farrill, and Christopher Tin represents three diverse American voices whose music explores the pure essence of these elusive concepts central to the founding promise of this country.
The concert performance is framed by video portraits captured during Lara’s encounters across America in this post-election year, as she carries out regional residencies within an ambitious community activation/deep-listening initiative. These engagements will engender reflections and expressions from a diverse cross-section of Americans - those born within these borders and those who have made their way here - about the concepts of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
DECLARATION will document the state of the nation through creative expression that represents a wide range of cultural and geographical American realities. Through the honesty and immediacy of first-person narratives, the project reimagines the promise of our American future, reflecting on the magic and mystery of life, the ongoing quest for freedom and equality, and the radical power of joy.
LIFE: by VALERIE COLEMAN
DECLARATION begins with an intimate reflection on the beauty and fragility of life, the shared humanity that connects us, and the potential we hold to protect and cherish one another in intention and action.
(5 minutes - Instrumentation: Solo Piano )
LIBERTY: by ARTURO O’FARRILL
A poignant and buoyant work that travels the long road of American history to acknowledge the courageous struggle for freedom, and to celebrate the progress that has been hard-won across generations as we work to realize the promise of liberty as an unalienable right for all Americans.
(10 minutes - Instrumentation: Piano with Strings, Winds, Brass & Afro-Caribbean percussion)
PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS: by CHRISTOPHER TIN
A vivacious and audaciously optimistic rhapsody that celebrates the ideals pursued and deserved not just by every American, but by all human beings, regardless of origin or identity.
(20 minutes - Instrumentation: Piano and Full Orchestra)
Valerie Coleman photo: Kia Caldwell - Arturo O’Farrill photo: Sophie Le Roux - Christopher Tin photo: Andy Wilkinson