Featured Alumni: Davóne Tines (MM '13, voice), Matthew Aucoin (Graduate Diploma '14, composition).
Music by Handel, Matthew Aucoin and African-American Spirituals
America’s memory is short, fractured and skewed; this week’s tragedy is last week’s forgotten hashtag. Were You There, a musical and theatrical meditation featuring bass-baritone vocalist Davóne Tines, takes up the task of strengthening our collective memory by gathering and channeling some of America’s most prescient voices, from the words and melodies of African-American spirituals to the poetry of Walt Whitman. It is an invitation to give voice to, and shed light on, the memory of the lives lost at the hands of racial injustice, in the hope that by illuminating past and recent tragedies, we understand better why they happened, and ensure that we do not repeat them. Were You There was developed and premiered by American Modern Opera Company (AMOC) and is directed by AMOC's co-artistic director, Zack Winokur.
Davóne Tines, bass-baritone
Michael Schachter, piano
Conceived by Davóne Tines and Zack Winokur
Directed by Zack Winokur