INDEPENDENCE

The MAverick Roots and Routes of American Music

Chart-topping pianist and 2022 Classical Woman of the Year Lara Downes is joined by best-selling author and cultural commentator John McWhorter for an spirited evening of music and conversation reflecting on the independent and innovative essence of American music, tracing our musical language back to its blended roots and complex origins. As we approach the 250th anniversary of the founding of this nation, Downes and McWhorter explore the musical manifestation of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, often expressed by those who have had to fight the hardest for those promises. From African American Spirituals through the invention of Ragtime, the transformations of jazz and the music of the Harlem Renaissance, and the multicultural expansion of the 20th century, this program celebrates the resilience and resistance that have created the American sound.

Downes performs music from her acclaimed album THIS LAND, with McWhorter taking a surprise turn as a vocalist in selections from the American Songbook by Irving Berlin, James Reese Europe and George Gershwin.