RHAPSODY IN BLUE REIMAGINED
“The poignancy of the performance came from the fact that Colón, Downes and the ensemble celebrated cultures that, despite a history of oppression in America, have defined the nation’s art and culture and continue to do so to this day.”
Highlight Reel - WORLD PREMIERE PERFORMANCE: SAN FRANCISCO, OCTOBER 2023
In February 1924, George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue was premiered in New York City, capturing the exuberant essence of what the composer called “a musical kaleidoscope of America—our vast melting pot...”
100 years later, iconoclastic American pianist Lara Downes reimagines Gershwin’s masterpiece to reflect on a century of immigration and transformation, commissioning a radical new arrangement by the Puerto Rican composer Edmar Colón that reverberates with the multicultural, kaleidoscopic sounds of America in our own time. This adventurous work had its world premiere in October 2023 alongside a future-forward ensemble of dynamic young musicians from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music Orchestra and Roots, Jazz and American Music programs led by conductor Edwin Outwater.
A global release on the Pentatone label: February 2024.
Lara Downes introduces “Rhapsody in Blue REIMAGINED”
1924 was a transformative year: three months after Rhapsody in Blue was first heard, the United States passed an immigration act designed to "preserve the ideal of U.S. homogeneity" and prevent ""a stream of alien blood". The new federal policies drastically restricted European immigration but coincidentally (and unintentionally) opened a pathway for new arrivals from the British West Indies. Among them was Lara’s grandfather, who migrated from Jamaica to Harlem in 1924.
Much as Gershwin’s original composition reflected the diverse sonic world of his time, Colón’s buoyant and joyful new arrangement honors the waves of immigration that have continually transformed the sound of American music. Here, Lara’s own lineage enters into Gershwin’s soundscape with the introduction of Caribbean instruments and rhythms. Subsequent arrivals —- from Central and South America, Asia, the Middle East and all the corners of the globe —- are represented in moments of prismatic color that expand Gershwin’s soundscape to reflect the ever-changing sounds of American life.
This re-imagination of a beloved American masterpiece creates a bridge between the past and the present, the known and the new, the timeless and the timely. Rhapsody in Blue will be released on the Pentatone label in January 2024 with Downes as soloist alongside a future-forward ensemble of dynamic young musicians from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music Orchestra and Roots, Jazz and American Music programs led by conductor Edwin Outwater.