Apollo Chamber Players to Release New Album WE THE PEOPLE
The album features world premiere recordings by Daniel Bernard Roumain, Homayoun Sakhi, and John Corigliano.
Apollo Chamber Players will release a new album, We the People, on July 3, 2026 as a digital release on Azica Records, capturing musical narratives from the American experience on the eve of the nation's 250th birthday. The album features the world premiere recordings of Daniel Bernard Roumain's And Still We Cross, Homayoun Sakhi's String Quartet No. 1: Tolo, John Cornelius's PAX, and Marcus Maroney's The Color Blue; along with newly recorded original arrangements of John Corigliano's One Sweet Morning, Howard Hanson's Song of Democracy (arr. Mark Buller), and a reimagining of one of Beethoven's most celebrated works, performed here as Fantasy on Symphony No. 7: Allegretto Groovando for string quartet and electric violin (arr. Tracy Silverman). The album's striking cover image features newly commissioned artwork by Houston-based artist Liana Amaya.
Featuring new commissions, world premieres, and transformative reimaginings, the recording amplifies voices from across cultures, eras, and communities whose lived experiences help define the collective meaning of "We the People" - envisioned by the nation's founders but unfulfilled in their time and even in ours. From Beethoven's Enlightenment-rooted humanism to contemporary reflections from Afghan, African-American, Haitian-American, Jewish-American, and student creators, each work explores how democracy is dreamed of, challenged, and renewed.
We the People opens with Haitian-American composer Daniel Bernard Roumain's And Still We Cross, a dramatic contemporary work exploring the legacies of 19th-century African-American luminaries Frederick Douglass and Booker T. Washington. Composed for string quartet, vocal quartet, and narrator, the composition brings this piece of American heritage to life through the eyes and voice of Kenneth Morris, Jr., a living descendant of both figures, infusing the album with an essential lived perspective on racial justice and American identity. Morris serves as narrator for this piece, with a vocal quartet comprising Penelope Campbell, soprano; Elizabeth Tait, alto; Wayne Ashley, tenor; and Keaton Brown, baritone.
Apollo collaborates with composer and violinist Tracy Silverman on the album's second track, a reimagining of the famous Allegretto from Beethoven's Seventh Symphony arranged for string quartet and electric violin. A towering figure of the Enlightenment, Beethoven believed deeply in the ideals of liberty, equality, and the dignity of the individual-values that pulse through his music and mirror the founding principles of America, now seen through the contemporary lens of this arrangement. Apollo is joined on this piece by Silverman on electric violin and Whitney Bullock on viola.
Five-time GRAMMY Award winner John Corigliano's work One Sweet Morning - featuring countertenor John Holiday, with Ella Sharpe on double bass - draws on poetry by Jewish-American lyricist Yip Harburg in a musical prayer for the end of war and an aspiration for peace. Composed in the wake of 9/11, this work for string quartet, double bass, and countertenor movingly expresses the longing for peace in a turbulent world.
Homayoun Sakhi's String Quartet No. 1: Tolo, an Apollo commission premiered by the quartet in 2024, takes its name from the Afghan word for "sunrise." Envisioning a more hopeful and peaceful tomorrow through the eyes of Afghan and Asian immigrants - honored through this track as part of America's "We the People" - the work speaks of both the immigrant journey and the nation's promise of renewal.
In John Cornelius's work PAX, an Apollo commission premiered by the quartet in 2022, the composer reflects powerfully on the words of poet Langston Hughes. Composed for string quartet, spoken word, and tenor, the work resonates with the principle that democracy cannot be achieved in the United States until all people are free and equal, and that everyone-We the People-must participate in the struggle for change. Vocalist Kenneth Gayle and contemporary poet and Houston Poet Laureate Outspoken Bean feature in this performance, confronting democracy's unfinished work, their contemporary voices grounding the theme in today's ongoing civic struggles.
Marcus Maroney's work, The Color Blue, commissioned by Apollo and premiered in 2025, represents a collaboration with students at Houston's Kinder High School for the Performing and Visual Arts. Prompted by the question "What does democracy mean to you?" students contributed yearning and passionate writings on their nation and the future it will choose, bringing to this album a powerful multigenerational dimension representing tomorrow's "We the People." The Kinder HSPVA Chorale, led by director Marcus Jauregui and assistant director Jenny Stone, performs on the recording along with violist Tonya Burton.
The album closes with Mark Buller's 2025 arrangement of Howard Hanson's Song of Democracy, adapting this musical setting of Walt Whitman's poetry for string quartet and SATB choir, and again featuring the Kinder HSPVA Chorale. Bridging past and present, this composition honors Whitman's seminal American body of work - replete with the democratic humanism intrinsic to the nation's cultural identity - while reimagining it for a new generation during the nation's 250th anniversary.
We the People Tracklist
1. Daniel Bernard Roumain - And Still We Cross for string quartet, vocal quartet (SATB) and narrator (2025) [16:25]
Apollo Chamber Players
Kenneth Morris, Jr., author & narrator
Penelope Campbell, soprano
Elizabeth Tait, alto
Wayne Ashley, tenor
Keaton Brown, baritone
2. L. van Beethoven (arr. Tracy Silverman) - Fantasy on Symphony No. 7: Allegretto Groovando for string quartet & electric violin (2021) [6:54]
Apollo Chamber Players
Tracy Silverman, electric violin
Whitney Bullock, guest viola
3. John Corigliano - One Sweet Morning for string quintet & voice (2024) [5:58]
Apollo Chamber Players
John Holiday, countertenor
Ella Sharpe, double bass
4. Homayoun Sakhi - String Quartet No. 1: Tolo (Sunrise) (2024) [8:52]
John Cornelius - PAX (Peace) for string quartet, spoken word and voice (2022)
5. I. Prologue / Isle of Self (Outspoken Bean) [3:08]
6. II. Give Us Our Peace (Langston Hughes) [4:07]
7. III. Interlude / Give Us Our Peace (Outspoken Bean) [1:34]
8. IV. The Dove (Langston Hughes) [1:19]
9. V. People (Outspoken Bean) [3:00]
10. VI. PAX / Painting (Outspoken Bean) [2:04]
Apollo Chamber Players
Outspoken Bean, Houston Poet Laureate (2021-2023)
Kenneth Gayle, tenor
Marcus Maroney - The Color Blue for string quartet & SATB choir (2025)
11. Part 1: For the Fourth [6:28]
12. Part 2: Thought-Prayer [3:03]
13. Part 3: The Color Blue [8:44]
Apollo Chamber Players
Kinder HSPVA Chorale
Marcus Jauregui, director
Tonya Burton, guest viola
14. Howard Hansen (arr. Mark Buller 2025) - Song of Democracy for string quartet & SATB choir [12:22]
Apollo Chamber Players
Kinder HSPVA Chorale
Marcus Jauregui, director
Tonya Burton, guest viola
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