Letters to America

What would America look like if it listened to Black Women? What would it feel like? What beauty would emerge from the pain, frustration, and radical imagination of Black Women if our voices were heard, valued, and uplifted? Letters to America is a four-movement work for soprano and orchestra that grapples with these questions, placing the voices of present-day Black women in conversation with the Declaration of Independence through community-sourced letters. Through these pairings, this piece reclaims the agency and humanity of Black women past and present, de-centering the voice of empire and re-centering the resistance and resilience of the very women whose labor and sacrifice have built and maintained this country. The significance of this work on the heels of the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence and its presentation in the Classical space — a place that has excluded and diminished the artistic contributions of Black women — cannot be understated. Through this project, Black women whose voices have been ignored, misunderstood, and shut down are centered on the Classical stage. 

‍Letters to America was composed for soprano Karen Slack and features text composed by Traci Neal, A Memi Sei, and Brittany J. Green. Letters to America was co-commissioned by American Composers Orchestra, Durham Symphony Orchestra, and New Jersey Symphony.