What would you expect to hear in a new recording of American music celebrating our country’s 250th anniversary?
Music from Stephen Foster, Aaron Copland and Leonard Bernstein, perhaps? Maybe selections from today’s composers, such as Willie Nelson, Shawn Okpebholo, or Jeff Beal?
In pianist Lara Downes’ newest recording "Hold These Truths," you’ll find these composers and some surprises too. The album features music from before the nation’s founding right up the present day. The result is a compelling blend of American music, thoughtful, quiet, but irresistible: “…a soundtrack of…(American) revolution, resistance, and resilience.”
While preparing for and recording this album, pianist Downes has been taking the pulse of the country in her ground-breaking initiative, The Declaration Project (co-commissioned by Lincoln Center, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, and the Tejemos Foundation). Marking the 250th anniversary of the United States, the project reflects the nation’s founding principles: “Confronting the flaws and failures of its history, while celebrating the audacious beauty of the American promise, and imagining the next chapter of the national story.”
Downes has travelled the country capturing a broad section of Americans, through a mosaic of music, personal narrative, and portraiture. Downes goal: to document the country’s hopes, struggles, and untold stories. These stories will be collected into a national digital archive available to all, and will be incorporated into Downes’ music performances in 2026, a part of The Declaration Projection. You can hear these stories and share your own stories on The Declaration Project website.
Listen in July to WXXI Classical for selections from “Hold These Truths,” with pianist Lara Downes and friends.
