KENNEDY CENTER

FORTAS CHAMBER MUSIC CONCERTS

November 23

FELLOW CITIZENS

Beginning with ‘God Bless America,’ Irving Berlin’s musical prayer of thanksgiving to the nation that gave him refuge as a child fleeing pogroms in Russia, Fellow Citizens explores migration and immigration narratives in the United States through the art of song. Featuring works by a wide range of composers—from Franz Schubert to Ruth Crawford Seeger—juxtaposed with projections of historical images of immigrants passing through Angel and Ellis Island, as well as scenes from the Great Migration, Fellow Citizens reflects on two enduring narratives in American history: one that asserts America is for Americans and another that celebrates the country as a ‘Nation of Immigrants.’ 

SONGS by Irving BERLIN, Leonard BERNSTEIN, Rebecca CLARKE, Antonin DVORAK, Mohammed FAIROUZ, Jake HEGGIE, Steven Mark KOHN, Eric MALMQUIST, Robert OWENS, Florence PRICE, Sranz SCHUBERT, Ruth CRAWFORD SEEGER, Errollyn WALLEN, Ralph VAUGHAN WILLIAMS

with Myra Huang, piano