Pacifica Quartet Will Premiere 'Revolutionary Portraits: Our Better Angels'

The internationally acclaimed Pacifica Quartet will present a new program, Revolutionary Portraits: Our Better Angels, on April 12, 2026 at 7:30 PM in Washington, D.C., as part of Washington Performing Arts' fourth-annual Ruth Bader Ginsburg Memorial Recital at Sixth & I.

The performance features narration by NPR's Nina Totenberg, one of Justice Ginsburg's closest friends and most trusted journalistic voices, bringing a rare personal dimension to a program that blends music, storytelling, and cultural history.

A moving evening centered on resilience, transformation, and the enduring ideals of American democracy, American Portraits includes the world premieres of two major new works for narrator and string quartet, both co-commissioned by Washington Performing Arts. Jennifer Higdon's Steps for Justice honors the life and legacy of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, while Gabriela Lena Frank's The Edge of Everything offers a vivid musical portrait of the pioneering environmentalist.

The program opens with Florence Price's String Quartet in G Major - an increasingly recognized cornerstone of the American chamber repertoire - and culminates in Beethoven's String Quartet in B-flat Major, Op. 130, performed with the Grosse Fuge, Op. 133, one of the most daring and forward-looking works in the canon. Together, the program creates a powerful arc linking past and present, placing new voices in dialogue with history.

GRAMMY-nominated pianist and composer Gabriela Lena Frank, whose first opera premieres at The Metropolitan Opera in May 2026, has written The Edge of Everything, a new work about the titular environmental trailblazer. Scientist, writer, and unwavering advocate for the natural world, Carson's lifelong devotion to the sea and its intricate ecosystems provides both the imagery and the moral center of the piece. The music draws its primary inspiration from Carson's intimate relationship with coastal life: textures ripple and surge like tidal currents, long gliding lines suggest pelicans skimming the water's surface, and suspended sonorities recall marsh birds calling across wetlands and tidal marshes. Yet, this is not only a portrait of natural beauty - embedded within the work is a narrative of resistance.

Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Jennifer Higdon's new work, Steps for Justice, honors the life, principles, and enduring influence of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Written for narrator (performed here by Nina Totenberg) and string quartet, the work draws directly on Ginsburg's own words, as well as reflections by her daughter-in-law, Patrice Michaels, weaving biography, philosophy, and civic responsibility into a compelling musical narrative. At the heart of the piece are Ginsburg's convictions about learning, equality, and participation in democracy. Quotations such as "Never underestimate the power of a girl with a book" and "Reading is the key that opens doors to many good things in life" frame education as the foundation of both personal freedom and societal progress. Higdon captures Ginsburg's humanity through intimate textures and transparent writing, including moments inspired by Michaels's vivid portrayal of Ginsburg at work: meticulous, focused, and quietly relentless in her commitment to doing the best she could each day. Watch a short introduction by Jennifer Higdon. In the context of America's 250th anniversary, Steps for Justice stands as both tribute and call to action.