American Pianist Lara Downes’ Rhapsody In Blue Reimagined Reflects on a Century of Immigration and Transformation, Out Today on PENTATONE

Arrangement by Edmar Colón, Featuring the San Francisco Conservatory of Music Orchestra, Conducted by Edwin Outwater 

Listen: https://lnk.to/RhapsodyinBlueReimagined

February 2 — American pianist Lara Downes honors the centennial of George Gershwin's Rhapsody In Blue by commissioning a bold reinterpretation arranged by Puerto Rican composer Edmar Colón. Rhapsody In Blue Reimagined comes out today as a digital EP on PENTATONE. Downes' rendition serves as a poignant reflection on a century of transformation and immigration since Gershwin's historic premiere in New York City on February 12, 1924, and celebrates the multicultural diversity of American music today. It will also be featured on a forthcoming full album by Downes entitled This Land, a reflection on diverse American journeys that includes works by Arturo O’Farrill, Kian Ravaei, Jake Heggie and Margaret Bonds, to be released on Pentatone this fall.

Rhapsody In Blue Reimagined was recorded with Lara Downes as the piano soloist and Edmar Colon joining the San Francisco Conservatory of Music Orchestra (conducted by Edwin Outwater) on soprano saxophone. It was produced by GRAMMY® Award-winner Adam Abeshouse. The sold-out world premiere took place in San Francisco last fall, watch the full performance here.

The project has already been met with raves, and featured in Downbeat (“This is not your daddy’s Rhapsody”), the San Francisco Chronicle, and more. The Daily Californian praised the San Francisco premiere, saying: “The poignancy of the performance came from the fact that Colón, Downes and the ensemble celebrated cultures that, despite a history of oppression in America, have defined the nation’s art and culture and continue to do so to this day." Downes’ essay about the project is published in the February issue of Hemispheres Magazine, the in-flight publication for United Airlines, which has featured Rhapsody in Blue as its theme music since 1980.  Further coverage is on the way from NPR Morning Edition, Switched on Pop, the Wall Street Journal, Grammy.com, WQXR, Your Classical MPR and more. 

Downes also recently appeared on WNYC’s Soundcheck with Colón to discuss and perform some of the pieces that influenced and inspired Rhapsody In Blue, as well as a new work called “Study in Blue,” a romantic duet for piano and soprano sax that is an affectionate mash-up of the slow theme from Rhapsody In Blue and Chopin’s “Tristesse” Etude - in a nod to Gershwin’s Romantic-era inspiration.

Says Downes: “Rhapsody In Blue holds a special place in my heart as both a musician and a lover of music.  It’s been a great adventure to reflect on the story of an American century and my own family’s journey of immigration and social change, as expressed in Gershwin’s music. I think he would be so thrilled to know that this piece is still part of the colorful, beautiful, multicultural musical kaleidoscope of America, now and for generations to come.”  

Downes’ mission for Rhapsody In Blue Reimagined is to celebrate the immigrants who have arrived in this country over the past century.  The arrangement fills the Rhapsody with the sounds of Downes’ own Afro-Caribbean lineage, as well as Colón’s, featuring rhythms and instruments that trace the journey of the African diaspora, as well as musical elements that represent American journeys from many corners of the globe - Europe, the Middle East, Asia and beyond. 

In 1924, Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue received exuberant praise and helped to usher in the jazz age as America rebounded from the losses of World War I and a global pandemic. Gershwin, who was inspired by the melting pot of America as he composed the original piece, was himself the son of immigrants.  However, three months after Rhapsody in Blue was first heard, the United States passed an immigration act designed to "preserve the ideal of U.S. homogeneity" and prevent "a stream of alien blood.”  These federal policies drastically restricted European immigration but coincidentally (and unintentionally) opened a pathway for new arrivals from the British West Indies - which enabled Downes’ grandparents to come from Jamaica to Harlem in the mid-1920s.

Lara Downes will be as busy as ever on tour and with other projects. She is the creator and host of Classical Americana, a nationally syndicated new radio program from KDFC/KUSC, exploring the defining sound of American classical music and its historical roots. In each episode, Downes takes listeners on a journey down the highways and byways of American music, uncovering roadside discoveries and exploring crossroads where musical traditions merge and transform. Her NPR video show Amplify with Lara Downes is about to launch its fourth season, and her concert schedule is dense, with upcoming appearances at the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Philadelphia Orchestra, Lincoln Center and more. See below for her full performance schedule: https://www.laradownes.com/tour

Lara Downes has been called “a musical ray of hope” by NBC News, has performed a Tiny Desk Concert for NPR, was recently a NY Times Crossword clue and has topped the Billboard Classical charts with several of her recent releases.  She is the creator and host of the acclaimed NPR video series Amplify with Lara Downes, featuring uniquely intimate conversations with trailblazing Black artists and cultural figures - including Rhiannon Giddens, Jon Batiste, Samara Joy, Allison Russell and her most recent episode with Robert Glasper.  She has been profiled by the NY Times, and is a frequent guest on NPR’s Morning Edition and All Things Considered. She is the Resident Artist for Classical California KDFC and KUSC. 

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