Audiences in Rochester will be treated to a world premiere performance Monday night. "How Bright the Sunlight" is a new musical collaboration between the Eastman School of Music and Ganondagan. The first Native American U.S. poet laureate Joy Harjo narrates the piece. The music is composed by Pulitzer Prize winner Anthony Davis. It will be performed by the Eastman Philharmonia. The piece also has a local connection: conductor Timothy Long, who is of Muscogee (Creek) and Choctaw descent, studied at the Eastman School of Music more than 30 years ago, and in 2018, returned as music director of the Eastman Opera Theatre.
This hour, we discuss the piece, its roots, and how Native American culture is reflected in music. Our guests:
- Anthony Davis, Pulitzer Prize-winning composer
- Ansley Jemison, cultural liaison for Ganondagan
- Timothy Long, conductor, and associate professor of opera at the Eastman School of Music
- Crystal Sellers Battle, associate dean of equity and inclusion at the Eastman School of Music
