Crossing the Deep
Parallel lives, shared stories, and transatlantic musical traditions intertwine in this revelatory choral drama. Premiered by H+H in 2023 to sold-out houses, Crossing the Deep explores the resonances and juxtapositions between sacred music by Handel and Negro spirituals by enslaved Africans in America, written at the same time and often using the same Biblical texts. “There should be next performances and then some,” raved The Boston Globe, and we’re glad to deliver: Now, we’re inviting even more Bostonians to join us for this one-of-a-kind emotional journey.
Location:
NEC's Jordan Hall
Dates:
Friday, January 17, 2025 at 7:30pm
Sunday, January 19, 2025 at 3:00pm
Performed by:
Anthony Trecek-King, conductor and co-creator
Reginald Mobley, countertenor and co-creator
Regie Gibson, spoken word artist
Brianna J. Robinson, soprano
H+H Orchestra and Chorus
Crossing the Deep
Parallel lives, shared stories, and transatlantic musical traditions intertwine in this revelatory choral drama. Premiered by H+H in 2023 to sold-out houses, Crossing the Deep explores the resonances and juxtapositions between sacred music by Handel and Negro spirituals by enslaved Africans in America, written at the same time and often using the same Biblical texts. “There should be next performances and then some,” raved The Boston Globe, and we’re glad to deliver: Now, we’re inviting even more Bostonians to join us for this one-of-a-kind emotional journey.
Location:
NEC's Jordan Hall
Dates:
Sunday, January 19, 2025 at 3:00pm
Performed by:
Anthony Trecek-King, conductor and co-creator
Reginald Mobley, countertenor and co-creator
Regie Gibson, spoken word artist
Brianna J. Robinson, soprano
H+H Orchestra and Chorus
Credo - Margaret Bonds (Soprano Soloist)
Pioneer Valley Orchestra
Visions of Hope
Saturday, May 11th, 2024 7PM
Greenfield High School Auditorium
Tianhui Ng and Dr. Allegra Martin, Conductors
Pre-concert talk with Dr. David Schneider 6PM
William Grant Still - Song of a New Race
New composition from local composer with the PVS Chorus
Margaret Bonds - Credo with the PVS Chorus
Brianna J. Robinson, Soprano
More at pvsoc.org.
DONA NOBIS PACEM - RALPH VAUGHAN-WILLIAMS (SOPRANO SOLOIST)
The New Heavens and The New Earth
with Vista Philharmonic Orchestra and Nashoba Valley Chorale
Hailstork: I Will Lift Up Mine Eyes
Read Thomas: Far Past War
Vaughan Williams Dona Nobis Pacem
April 21, 2024 at 3:00pm
Groton Hill Music Center
122 Old Ayer Road
Groton, MA 01450
This passionate and engaging program showcases the orchestra and chorus through a diverse group of composers. We begin with an energetic and expressive cantata for tenor, chorus and orchestra by the well-known African-American composer Adolphus Hailstork; this is followed by the New England premiere of Augusta Read Thomas’ Far Past War, a work she says is “about bringing peace through nature, both to the self and to the world.” The program concludes with Ralph Vaughan Williams’ masterwork, Dona Nobis Pacem, featuring Baritone Christopheren Nomura, and Soprano Brianna J. Robinson
More at nvcsings.org.
The Wanderer’s Tethering
The Wanderer’s Tethering is a celebration of Black folk songs, Black women in America, and the layered and multifaceted experience of people belonging to the Black diaspora. The program features a Boston Lyric Opera commissioned work, "The Wanderer’s Tethering," which combines poetry by Boston Poet Laureate Porsha Olayiwola and music by composer, vocalist, and multimedia artist Mason Bynes; alongside additional selections including Trevor Weston’s “Juba,” Jessie Montgomery’s “Source Code,” and Florence Price’s settings of familiar Negro folk songs for string quartet. Together, they provide a rich tapestry linking the voices of Black creators from the past with those of the present.
Saturday, April 6 2024, 3:00pm @ Prior Performing Arts Center in Worcester, MA | Tickets Available HERE
Love & Justice: Adolphus Hailstork Portrait Concert
Castle of our Skins returns to the Brattleboro Music Center for a day-long celebration of composer Adolphus Hailstork complete with masterclasses, discussions, and a capstone portrait concert featuring chamber music from Hailstork's rich body of work.
Saturday, March 30, 2024, 7:00pm @ Brattleboro Music Center, Brattleboro, VT | PURCHASE TICKETS
Including a pre-concert talk from 6:15-6:45pm.
Love & Justice: Adolphus Hailstork Portrait Concert
Ensemble-in-Residence Castle of our Skins returns to the Longy School of Music of Bard College for an immersive three-day residency focused on the music of Adolphus Hailstork. Our fifth residency, we are excited to team up with Hailstork to work with students in master classes, classroom visits, and affinity spaces, and present a capstone portrait concert featuring chamber music from Hailstork’s rich body of work.
Friday, March 29, 2024, 8:00pm @ Pickman Hall, Longy School of Music | FREE! RSVP
Including a pre-concert talk from 7:00-7:45pm and post-concert reception.
Castle of our Skins is a Black arts institution dedicated to fostering cultural curiosity and celebrating Black artistry through music. In classrooms, concert halls, and beyond, Castle of our Skins invites Black heritage and culture exploration, spotlighting both unsung and celebrated figures of past and present.
Dargan's AMASS
AMASS
A New Mass for Old Instruments
Sunday, March 10, 2024, at 7:30pm
Christ Episcopal Church
120 W. High St., Charlottesville VA
Early Music Access Project offers a world premiere from composer James Dargan that features vocal soloists Brianna J. Robinson, Patrick Dailey, and the composer himself, accompanied by strings and organ. For this new work, AMASS, Dargan has married two musical styles he has grown up singing, embedding the spirituals of the Black churches he attended as a child into the Latin mass tradition of his professional choral singing career, using compositional techniques of the medieval, Renaissance, and baroque periods, as well as period instruments. Works of Bach and Buxtehude have been selected to punctuate key moments of the Mass.
The Anonymous Lover (Leontine)
Music by Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges
Libretto by Desfontaines-Lavallée
The Huntington Theatre
Friday, February 16, 2024 | 7:30PM
Saturday, February 17, 2024 | 7:30PM
Sunday, February 18, 2024 | 3PM
Celebrate your valentine with this frothy romp, filled with beautiful arias, winning characters, and charming music that inspires us to root for true love. Written in 1780 by Black virtuoso Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges, The Anonymous Lover tells the story of Léontine, a wealthy young widow who is disenchanted with the notion of love until she begins receiving letters from an anonymous admirer. Léontine’s journey culminates in her own happy ending, a worthy romantic comedy for the ages.
More at blo.org
Dona Nobis Pacem - Ralph Vaughan-Williams (soprano Soloist)
Dona Nobis Pacem | Ralph Vaughan-Williams
Everyone, Everywhere | Daron Hagen
world premiere
Carnegie Hall
Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage at
57th Street & 7th Avenue
December 16, 2023
Saturday, 8pm
She’s Fabulous - Tony Solitro (Bethel)
TONY SOLITRO | INTIMACY AND IMAGINATION | FACULTY ARTIST RECITAL
This portrait recital of Tony Solitro’s vocal music highlights collaborations with living poets and librettists and lifts the stories of LGBTQ+ artists, poets, performers, and themes. The centerpiece of the program is “More Beautiful Than Night,” a deeply personal song cycle for tenor and piano featuring the homoromantic poetry of Frank O’Hara.
She’s Fabulous
Clarice: Corrine Byrne
Bethel: Brianna J. Robinson
Piano: Jean Anderson
Composer: Tony Solitro
Catalyst New Music Launch Concert & Reception
Catalyst New Music is hosting a Launch Concert & Reception on Friday, Sept 29 at 7:30pm at the Somerville Armory!
with performances by:
Amanda Densmoor
Laura Intravia
Claire McCahan
Vanessa Naghdi
Omar Najmi
JoAnna Pope
Brianna J. Robinson
Shohreh Shakoory
Brendon Shapiro
Join us for an unforgettable evening of live performances, great food, and exciting announcements about what's to come at Catalyst! We can't wait to share this unbelievably talented line-up of performers with you who will showcase music from our previous projects as well as some mystery ones to come!
General admission: $30
Students: $20
(Complimentary tickets available to those eligible for Mass Cultural Council's 'Card to Culture' program!)
Tickets available at www.catalystnewmusic.com
We think you're in for a real treat! Can't wait to see you on Sept 29.
The Wanderer’s Tethering
The Wanderer’s Tethering
A musical and spoken word performance collaboration. Pay what you like. Presented in Partnership with: Castle of our Skins, Hibernian Hall, Merrill Family Charitable Foundation, and the Mayor's Office of Arts & Culture, City of Boston.
Featuring:
Composer, Mason Bynes
Boston Poet Laureate, Librettist & Performer, Porsha Olayiwola
BLO Jane & Steven Akin Emerging Artist, Soprano, Brianna J. Robinson
Program Curator, BLO Artistic Advisor, Vimbayi Kaziboni
Artists from BLO & Castle of our Skins
Crossing the Deep
Parallel lives, shared stories, and transatlantic musical traditions intertwine in this revelatory choral drama. Set 250 years ago, Crossing the Deep is an immersive concert experience exploring the connections between sacred music written by Classical composers in Europe, like Handel, and Negro spirituals written by enslaved Africans in America to help cope with the brutal conditions of their bondage. The profound stories told by these traditions—often using the same texts—resonate with each other, underscoring the characters’ common humanity. At the same time, their juxtaposition illuminates how the stories diverge, prompting important questions about struggle, oppression, faith, and hope. Join us for this one-of-a-kind emotional journey, a tribute to the universal power of music.
BLACK POET MINIATURE CHALLENGE 3.0
Castle of our Skins announces part three of its #BCMC – Black Composer Miniature Challenge! Composers who identify as Black and part of the African diaspora are challenged to compose pieces for soprano and cello! Each piece must be 30 seconds (give or take) or less. For #BCMC 3.0, composers who plan on setting text are asked to use a haiku and/or tanka from the Castle of our Skins' Black Poet Miniature Challenge (#BPMC) project! Catch all 18 world premieres on our Facebook and Instagram pages June 1-18.
Performed by:
Brianna J. Robinson, soprano
Francesca Mcneeley, cello
Brahms’ Requiem (soprano soloist)
Deep joy lies also at the heart of Brahms’ Requiem. It is his most personal work, composed as a response to the death of his mother. Its focus is not on the past, but on the present. The work’s majestic harmonies and soaring melodic lines are for us: they are comfort for the living.
Brahms Requiem
Christopher Wilkins, conductor
Brianna J. Robinson, soprano
Brian Keith Johnson, baritone
Akron Symphony Chorus
Omar (Julie)
Omar is co-produced by Spoleto Festival USA and Carolina Performing Arts at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and co-commissioned by LA Opera, Spoleto Festival USA, Carolina Performing Arts, Boston Lyric Opera, San Francisco Opera and Lyric Opera of Chicago.
Opera Night
In honor of Women’s History Month, BLO presents a revelatory evening exploring the power of women’s voices in opera performance, musical composition, and professional advocacy. Curated by BLO Artistic Advisor Nina Yoshida Nelsen, the musical program will include works by Alma Mahler, Florence Price, and other extraordinary female composers.