Johnny Gandelsman, violin
This is America

Violinist, producer, and 2024 MacArthur Fellow Johnny Gandelsman will perform a solo violin program of works from his This is America project at Caramoor, featuring the world premiere of a Caramoor commission by Pulitzer-Prize-winning composer Tyshawn Sorey. Experience this reflection of the complex times we are living in through these intimate musical portraits of joy, uncertainty, isolation, and love. Don’t miss this profound, emotional journey. 

“A violinist who can do anything” - The Philadelphia Inquirer  

 1:00pm / Sunken Garden 

JUSTIN MESSINA: Music for Solitude  

LAYALE CHAKER: Sinekemān  

TYSHAWN SOREY: Capriccio for Violin Alone  (NY premiere, co-
commissioned by Caramoor)  

DANA LYN: a current took her away  

KINAN AZMEH: Sahra be Wyckoff 

2:15pm / Talk with Johnny Gandelsman, Dana Lyn, and Christina Courtin  

3:00pm / Spanish Courtyard 

AKSHAYA TUCKER: Pallavi, a Meditation on Care  

EBUN OGUNTOLA: Reflections  

TOMEKA REID: Rhapsody  

TYSHAWN SOREY: For Courtney Bryan  

CHRISTINA COURTIN: Stroon  

OLIVIA DAVIS: Cadenza, from “Steeped” 

RHIANNON GIDDENS: New to the Session 

To say that 2020 was a difficult year for the United States would be an understatement. Covid 19 took the lives of 385,000 people. Racism and police brutality took the lives of Ahmaud Arbery, George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, igniting nationwide and eventually worldwide protests. In California, the 4.2 million acres burned in 2020 were the most in a single year since records were kept, and more than the previous three years combined. Vicious election cycle rhetoric was boiling over, and conversations dominating cable news focused on what this country was, is, or should be. Unemployment skyrocketed. People were isolated, sick, scared and exhausted.  

My family and I had the opportunity to spend the first 6 months of the pandemic in the idyllic White Mountains region of New Hampshire. Although we were safe, I missed our home in New York, and felt disconnected from our Brooklyn community. It was strange to sit on the sidelines and be an observer as our world was falling apart.  

In thinking about ways one person could make a small difference, it occurred to me that in many ways amplifying voices of others, whether it's those of centuries past, or ones of today, is an essential part of being a Classical musician. I decided to commission new works for violin from American and US-based composers, asking each one to reflect in some way on the time we were all living through. Some, like Kinan Azmeh, Layale Chaker, and Christina Courtin have been dear friends for decades; others like Maya Miro Johnson, Èbùn Oguntola and Tomeka Reid were new connections; all were musicians whose artistry I respected and admired. Over the course of a few months the project grew - over 20 new works were funded, written and recorded. Rising to the surface were themes like loss and uncertainty, but also joy, friendship, gratitude and love.  

Over the course of developing this project, I’ve come to think of it as an anthology, a snapshot in time, documenting a tiny slice of the creative thought and output in this country. Six years have passed, yet the works which encapsulated moments of 2020 are still relevant today. I invite you to stop listening to pundits, extend your ears, open up your imagination, and trust the music to guide you into a complicated, challenging and thrilling sound world - This Is America.  

Johnny Gandelsman 

Rain or Shine Policy: All events at Caramoor take place rain or shine. In the event of inclement weather, this performance will move indoors or under a covered space.