For Davóne Tines, the fifth annual “I Dream a World Festival” with New World Symphony is more than just a performance — it is a chance to wield his voice as an instrument of change.
“Instead of flatly entertaining, I want to use the concert stage as a forum for exploring questions and that work has continued with New World Symphony,” says the internationally renowned bass-baritone.
“Lift Every Voice and Sing,” the symphony’s four-day tribute to Black composers from the Civil Rights era to the present day, provides that opportunity.
Internationally renowned bass-baritone Davóne Tines, will perform in the New World Symphony’s fifth annual I Dream a World: Lift Every Voice and Sing Festival.
(Courtesy of New World Symphony)
Produced in partnership with Tammy Kernodle, Ph.D., University Distinguished Professor in the Department of Music at Ohio’s Miami University, the event will be featured on two stages: one in Overtown and the other in Miami Beach.
Davóne Tines, along with soprano Kristin Renee Young and the Fellows of the New World Symphony, will bring the musical friendship between Harlem Renaissance poet Langston Hughes and composer and pianist Margaret Bonds onstage.
(Courtesy of New World Symphony)
The festival premieres Wednesday, Feb. 18, at the New World Center in Miami Beach. Tines, along with soprano Kristin Renee Young and the Fellows of the New World Symphony, will bring the musical friendship between Harlem Renaissance poet Langston Hughes and composer and pianist Margaret Bonds to life onstage.
“Salon: I, Too, Sing America” promises an elegant celebration of Hughes, the literary parties he frequented and his subsequent musical collaboration with Bonds.
The event will be featured on two stages: one at the Black Archives Historic Lyric Theater in Overtown and the other at the New World Center on Miami Beach.
(Courtesy of New World Symphony)
The program will also be presented Thursday, Feb. 19, at the Black Archives Historic Lyric Theater in Overtown. Tickets are pay-what-you-wish, with suggestions starting at $10.
The remaining two performances return to the New World Center stage, where Panamanian-American conductor Kalena Bovell leads NWS.
In a blockbuster rendition, Tines is slated to present “Concerto No. 2: ANTHEM,” a provocative piece in which he wonders aloud whether the “Star Spangled Banner” is truly an inspirational and unifying battle cry for patriotic Americans.
In “Concerto No. 2: ANTHEM” Davóne Tines challenges whether the Star Spangled Banner is an inspirational battle cry for patriotic Americans.
(Courtesy of New World Symphony)
Spoiler alert: It isn’t.
“I don’t think the ‘Star Spangled Banner’ has been a good part of the DNA of this country because it suggests that our country is founded on ideals of conquering others and oppression,” says Tines, adding that it is important to reconsider symbols that have been chosen to represent America.
“… Make sure that they’re in line with what we as a society are deeming the most positive reflection of where we’re trying to go.”
Self-written and performed, Tines calls his piece an educational tool that uses a “magic trick” to transform the “Star Spangled Banner” into “The Black National Anthem.”
“I really wanted to show to audiences in full orchestral glory, what this alternative option for a national anthem could be,” he says.
This anthem, believes Tines, has better values for a “country to be built on.” His piece begins with a bang.
“The first movement is the ‘Star Spangled Banner’ starting in a very, like MGM musical, Whitney Houston at the Super Bowl. It’s like the Fourth of July on steroids,” he explains.
Then the tone and messaging shift.
“The subsequent verses become darker or more menacing as the text of the song becomes darker and more menacing.”
But Tines’ concerto isn’t the only work drawing from Francis Scott Key’s 1814 composition, which became the country’s official anthem in 1931.
Jessie Montgomery’s “Banner,” composed in 2014, offers a multicultural response marking the national anthem’s 200th anniversary and will be led by first-year Conducting NWS Fellow Ziwei Ma.
Also on the program is Bonds’ “The Montgomery Variations.” Based on “I Want Jesus to Walk with Me,” the 25-minute orchestral work serves as a homage to Martin Luther King Jr. and the Montgomery Bus Boycott.
The Florida Memorial University Ambassador Chorale returns to the New World Symphony’s fifth annual I Dream a World Festival.
(Courtesy of New World Symphony)
The Florida Memorial University Ambassador Chorale rounds out the event with a performance of “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” known universally as the “Black National Anthem.”
Argarita Johnson-Palavicini, Ph.D., chair of the Department of Arts and Humanities at Florida Memorial University and director of the Ambassador Chorale, looks forward to another year of collaboration between FMU and the New World Symphony.
“We’re just really happy to be a part of this I have a dream journey that New World Symphony embarks upon every year,” she says.
Johnson-Palavicini notes that their participation is heightened by working with Tines and says she is particularly pleased that the festival will showcase the music of Margaret Bonds.
“Dr. Kernodle does a great job of picking or choosing pieces that most people don’t know of, so to highlight the music of a female composer during this time is really what makes it special,” she says.
“So we just want to continue to make great music together and to encourage and to educate the world about all of the wonderful historical Black music that people may not know about.”
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