a musical portrait of America, exploring the ideals of freedom, democracy and unity through the voices, stories and music of the people who have shaped the nation.
Created and curated by pianist Lara Downes, We The People evolves from her Declaration Project, originally commissioned by Lincoln Center and premiered at David Geffen Hall in 2026. That project invited communities across the country to reflect on the potential of the American promise and to engage in a collective vision of Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness. We The People expands that conversation, taking its title from the opening words of the U.S. Constitution and turning its attention to generations of Americans who have continually questioned, challenged and expanded the meaning of we.
Bringing together music from across generations, cultures and traditions, the program reflects on the American experiment in all its complexity: its promises and contradictions, its struggles and transformations, and the persistent hope of forming a more perfect union. At its heart is a major work by Grammy-winning composer Christopher Tin, commissioned by Downes as a contemporary reflection on the pursuit of happiness and our shared hopes for the future. Around it, music by composers and songwriters from across the American landscape celebrates freedom, demands justice, confronts division, searches for belonging and imagines a better future.
We The People: Songs of Democracy, Voices of Hope listens to the unfinished story of American democracy, told through the music of its people - a reflection on our country as it has been, as it is becoming, and as we might yet imagine it.
“Lara Downes is a uniquely gifted, acclaimed and curious artist who recognizes the complexity of our collective narratives of ourselves and our country in everything she does. This project creates spaces for us to listen in a new way and participate in a shared imagining all led by the belief that we are stronger together.”