A Celebration Of Black American Composers On Lara Downes’ Album ‘New Day Begun’

Pianist Lara Downes’ recent album “New Day Begun” features music, spanning more than a century, written by Black American composers. The record features Downes’ own performances, accompanied by special guest musicians. She is also the host of NPR Music’s “Amplify with Lara Downes” and she founded the Rising Sun music label, which carries her new recording and others produced in the spirit of lifting up minority voices in music. Downes joined “City Lights” host Lois Reitzes to talk about the new album and the goal of bringing recognition to lesser-known Black composers, for the benefit of future generations of music lovers, scholars, and students.

Downes described how her idea to bring to light certain pieces under the Rising Sun project evolved into a full album recording endeavor. “When I started the Rising Sun project, you’ll laugh, but my initial plan was to record twenty pieces of music that I had identified as needing recordings, needing world premiere recordings. I mean, I can see that spreadsheet in my mind. And of course, my idea just sort of exploded, and exponentially grew, so that spreadsheet has multiple pages now, and there’s so much music,” said Downes. “As it comes, I see patterns and narratives and stories that I want to tell, so it just felt like time to put together a full-length release that could compile a lot of the music that’s come together under this umbrella.”

“This album tells a pretty broad American story,” Downes explained. The record features works by William Grant Still and Florence Price, composers from the early 20th century, as well as contemporary musicians. “It’s such a direct lineage… It’s really important for us to look at this as a tradition, and not as only a collection of independent trailblazers.”