At this in-person event, proof of vaccination and masks are required. Please review our health and safety protocols here.

Hailed for her “luscious, moody, and dreamy” playing by the New York Times, pianist Lara Downes is equally celebrated as a musical innovator and cultural investigator—as heard most recently and widely on her NPR interview series, “Amplify with Lara Downes.”

In this performance, she presents a kaleidoscopic evening of music and poetry inspired by myriad stories of migration and transformation, joined in special-guest appearances by Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Rita Dove and by the vibrant and innovative Thalea Quartet, Graduate String Quartet in residence at the University of Maryland School of Music. The program includes works by William Grant Still, Duke Ellington, Florence Price, Nina Simone, Alvin Singleton, Carlos Simon, and Quinn Mason.