​► MAY 17 ► Teddy Abrams conducts REQUIEM FOR AMERICA at London's Barbican Hall, featuring Native singers, Native wood flute, 5 operatic soloists, and BBC Symphony Orchestra & Chorus. ► Pre-concert talk by Lenape Center ► The Anti-Requiem tackles America's genocidal founding, challenging the sanitized historical rhetoric, giving voice to America’s invisible people. ►  https://www.london-now.co.uk/local-events/?_evDiscoveryPath=/event/107219128n-teddy-abrams-bbc-symphony-orchestra

► ANNOUNCED ► Robert Murray will perform REQUIEM FOR AMERICA as solo tenor, 17 May 2026, Barbican Hall (London) and on BBC Radio 3 (airing & streaming). Murray has performed principal roles for the Royal Opera House, Hamburg State Opera, English National Opera, Welsh National Opera, the Venice Biennale, and the Edinburgh and Salzburg festivals, with such conductors as Edward Gardner, and Sir Simon Rattle. ► LINK ► https://www.intermusica.com/artist/Robert-Murray

► ARTICLE ► "Brent Michael Davids is an amazing indigenous composer. He had this passion project which he had been working on for almost over 20 years. Of course, that resonated with me, so I helped him organize it. It’s about the genocidal founding of America, aiming to help us all confront our past, not through opinion but through the actual words of the perpetrators and of survivors" (Cerise Jacobs). ► LINK ► https://www.opera-now.com/content/features/small-company-focus-white-snake-projects

► ARTICLE ► "I now find myself in a privileged position to look behind the stereotypes of America and explore its multifaceted history through surprising voices. Making America takes a deep dive into these unique American voices, unfolding across four concerts with familiar masterpieces from immigrants like Korngold’s Violin Concerto and Bartók’s Concerto for Orchestra, from John Adams’s orchestral universe, Harmonielehre, to Bernard Herrmann’s Vertigo Suite. A new work by jazz great Billy Childs featuring saxophonist Stephen Banks explores the African American diaspora plus myths and icons meet in Du Yun’s Hundred Heads and British composer Ryan Latimer’s Bestia for trumpeter Selina Ott. But the highlight for me is the world premiere of Requiem for America by Native American composer Brent Michael Davids. This important new work will feature Davids himself on Native American flute, an ensemble of eight Native American performers alongside the BBC Symphony Orchestra & Chorus conducted by Teddy Abrams." ► LINK ► https://www.classical-music.com/articles/making-america-bbc-symphony

► ANNOUNCED ► Conductor TEDDY ABRAMS explores the American melting pot. With the BBC Symphony he conducts the world premiere of Mohican/Munsee-Lenape composer Brent Michael Davids’s monumental 19-movement Requiem for America, which combines Indigenous letters with founding-era genocidal texts to reflect on the dark foundations of the United States. The performance features Davids himself on Native American flute, as well as the BBC Symphony Chorus (May 17).
► LINK  ► https://21cmediagroup.com/teddy-abramss-winter-spring-2026-explores-the-american-melting-pot/

► WORLD PREMIERE ► Mohican/Munsee-Lenape composer Brent Michael Davids’s Requiem pairs Indigenous letters with founding-era genocidal texts to lay bare the dark foundations of the USA. A contralto narrator guides us from the "Requiem Aeternam–Doctrine of Discovery" to the final "Threnoedia–We Are Still Here." Commissioned by White Snake Projects and The Lenape Center. Features BBC Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, Native American Singers & 5 Opera Soloists. ► Airs on BBC Radio 3. TICKETS https://www.bbc.co.uk/events/e8r6gw

▇► PODCAST ► Composer Brent Michael Davids discusses Requiem for America—a sweeping musical reckoning with the genocidal foundations of the United States, told through Indigenous voices. Blending Native American musical traditions with orchestral forces, the piece confronts history through texts both personal and political, culminating in a message of resilience: “We Are Still Here.” A selection of Davids’s music offers a deeper window into his singular artistic voice and lifelong mission. MUSIC: Uncovered Wagon, Tinnitus Quartet, On Lenape Soil, Trumpeting the Stone. ► LISTEN ► https://relevanttones.com/2026/04/20/474-brent-michael-davids-american-requiem/

[OPERAWIRE] Composer Brent Michael Davids, the creator of “Requiem for America,” has been named as one of the recipients of The Native Arts + Cultures Foundation’s (NACF) 2025 SHIFT – Transformative Change + Indigenous Arts award.

The award honors six Native artists, curators, and cultural practitioners whose projects use creativity to advance social change. “Requiem for America,” which was commissioned by White Snake Projects and the Lenape Center and is set to premiere in Boston in 2026, explores themes of healing, systemic change, and truth-telling, confronting the genocidal foundations of the United States and giving voice to Indigenous experiences.

Each performance will feature Indigenous singers from local tribal nations alongside a Western orchestra and vocal ensemble. Davids, co-director of the Lenape Center in Manhattan and a member of the Stockbridge-Munsee Community, is an internationally recognized composer and educator whose works have been performed by major orchestras at Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, and venues across Europe and Asia.

Creative Capital recently announced $50,000 in funds going to Requiem For America, back on 24 January 2023. I'm tardy announcing this, I know! It is an honor to be so supported and recognized. My official Creative Capital Project was featured on the Creative Capital Carnival.

Creative Capital funding will primarily go toward the composing of the Requiem, and hopefully additional funding will be secured for this massive compositional undertaking. Partial funding will also go toward beginning production expenses. In addition, more supporters have come forward, including a major supporter, Cerise Lim Jacobs and White Snake Projects (WSP), who will take on a major role as Executive Producer. Thank you Cerise and WSP!

Requiem for America has been a long time coming, a decade and a half of ideas and very small steps. With this major support, Requiem will most likely see a premiere in Boston, 2025. Special thanks to our other Producers: The Lenape Center and Dr. Robert Gehrenbeck. To see all our Producers and Supporters, visit the Support link HERE. Many supporters and funders have contributed to partial movements, readings, workshops, and encouraging early renditions of the Requiem. They all have my deepest thanks!  — Brent