Interview: Lara Downes on DECLARATION: SONGS OF DEMOCRACY, VOICES OF HOPE at Lincoln Center

This Wednesday on July 1, 2026, curator, pianist, and producer Lara Downes will explore the question “What does it mean to be an American today?” through music. Declaration: Songs of Democracy, Voices of Hope will be presented as part of Summer for the City, a Lincoln Center program with hundreds of free and Choose-What-You-Pay events for all.

The Declaration Project is a non-partisan, unbiased initiative meant to promote empathy, community and unity. In it, Downes collects videos, photos and stories from participants across the U.S. who are invited to share what being American means to them.

For this Lincoln Center performance, Downes has gathered a select collective of artists performing iconic, beloved songs that represent the fullness of the American experience, as well as world premieres by three major composers. Before and after the show, you can stop by the Hauser Digital Wall in the David Geffen Hall lobby for a display of video portraits captured during Downes' travels across America with The Declaration Project.

Read a conversation with Downes about the world premiere performance, and the larger Declaration Project.

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What was the genesis of the Declaration Project?

The project started about two years ago when Lincoln Center so kindly and generously approached me about building a project to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the founding of the nation, and I just started thinking about what this moment means in terms of American music, its history, and where we are now, and sort of the continuum of stories and journeys that it represents. So, along with the commission of new works to mark this moment, I wanted to seek out the music of the past that points to the present, and to also engage with my listeners; engage with the people of this country, do listening of my own, and build a story about American voices, both musical and otherwise, about how we all contribute to the sound of this country.

What have some of the most rewarding parts of the project been for you so far?

I think the most rewarding part of this project has been just getting to know the people and the places where I travel. I spend so much time on the road as a musician, and I feel like I'm always telling my story, and the opportunities for any kind of interactive dialogue and listening back are few - I have to make those opportunities myself most of the time.

So, taking these couple of years to really intentionally create those opportunities, I think it's just given me a different relationship to the experience of being American, and to understanding this present moment. I think the challenge for so many of us is that it's difficult for us to hear each other on a daily basis, and there's so much noise that's coming from external sources, so we sometimes feel like we're just being told a story or we’re being handed a narrative, and the only way to counter that is to just engage in really personal one on one honest open communication. I always feel that I'm so lucky because I move around so much. I am in so many different spaces, but putting myself in those spaces in kind of a different role as a gatherer of stories has really helped me. It's helped my understanding and my feeling of belonging, my belief in community, and I think it's given me a new energy about the role of art and artists to be at the center of community and civic discourse. It's really possible. This has opened a lot of doors for me, for us in the arts in America.

How does it feel to be bringing the world premiere performance of this work to Lincoln Center next month?

I can't think of a more perfect place to be premiering this project than Lincoln Center. For me, it really represents the democracy of art in America. The programming is so beautifully diverse and broad, and it really has community in mind. I feel like it's just an open invitation to the city of New York and to the whole world to engage with the arts in a thoughtful, nuanced, joyful way.I'm so grateful that Lincoln Center has provided the genesis for this project. When I play in Geffen Hall, I'm just so struck by the range of the audience, you know, which is a testament to the kind of open invitation that comes with a thoughtful approach to things like ticketing and the way that we tell the stories of the arts. I just know that there's going to be an audience for this project that really represents this city, this world, this city’s place in this country.

Do you have any additional thoughts?

This has been a good month for New York City, and I'm really happy to be capping it off with this big, ambitious, hopeful, it's hopeful, joyful project that really represents what happens when people come together and share their vision and share their voice.

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Header photo of Lara Downes. Credit: Max Barrett

Learn more about Lara at www.laradownes.com

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