Performance Information

Journey across continents and languages in a wide-ranging and powerful exploration of migration. A complement to Washington Performing Arts’ Dreamers special production and 2018/19 Latinx in D.C. programming, this afternoon of song and spoken word contemplates notions of home, yearning, displacement, and hope. Works by Alvarez, Bernstein, Friedman, Guastavino, Laitman, Lecuona, Sierra, Wolf, and more. 

Elizabeth Racheva, soprano & curator
Anamer Castrello, mezzo-soprano
Jose Sacín, baritone
Lester Green, piano
Bruce Rosenblum, double bass
Students from All Souls Unitarian Church, Carlos Rosario International Public Charter School, and GALA Hispanic Theatre’s Paso Nuevo Youth Program 
Helen Aberger, staging consultant

Free, but registration is required

Co-presented with All Souls Church Unitarian

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About Dreamers
Throughout the 2018/19 season, Washington Performing Arts is collaborating with arts, cultural heritage, education, and literary partners throughout D.C. to facilitate a multi-disciplinary dialogue around the important contributions and experiences of Latinx immigrants in the United States. Musical performances, visual art displays, panel discussions, education programs, and a book discussion series together showcase the wide range of journeys of identity and place experienced by our Latinx neighbors.

The focal point is the March 17, 2019 premiere (via simulcast to Sidney Harman Hall) of Washington Performing Arts’ co-commission Dreamers, a new work for orchestra, soprano, and chorus by composer Jimmy López and Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Nilo Cruz. Dreamers tells the story of several so-called “dreamers,” immigrants who were brought to the U.S. as children and whose legal status is in jeopardy because their parents arrived in the U.S. undocumented. The fictional story is based on true testimonies that Cuban-American Cruz and Peruvian-American López have collected from immigrants who have come to the U.S. in search of a better life.

About the Mars Urban Arts Initiative
The Mars Urban Arts Initiative (MUAI) is a creative platform for Washington Performing Arts and the D.C. community to celebrate and empower local artists through performances, unique educational programs, and interdisciplinary grassroots collaborations that showcase the diversity and vitality of our city. D.C. has always been an incubator for powerful artistic voices with worldwide resonance, from Duke Ellington and Todd Duncan to Shirley Horn and Chuck Brown. Reflective of our founder Patrick Hayes’ motto, “Everybody in, nobody out,” the Mars Urban Arts Initiative amplifies the role of local artists throughout Washington Performing Arts’ productions, educational opportunities, and special events. MUAI also curates educational workshops, master classes, and student performances that connect local students with distinguished performers, in conjunction with our signature education programs, such as the Capital Arts Partnership, Embassy Adoption Program, and Gospel Choirs. The Mars Urban Arts Initiative is anchored by residencies for leading artists and ensembles, curated performances across all eight wards, and artistic happenings that reflect what it means to call D.C. home.

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