This concert serves as a protest, an act of resistance to bills currently under consideration in

several U.S. states that aim to ban or significantly curtail the teaching and discussion of critical

race theory, LGBTQ+ issues, and antisemitism in public schools. Banned books that grapple

with these issues serve as the backbone and inspiration for the concert, which consists of five

new commissions, each by a different contemporary composer and inspired by a title of their

choosing.

Richard Brooks: And Tango Makes Three by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell

Laura Jobin-Acosta: Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein

Laura Kaminsky: Read Dangerously by Azar Nafisi 

Tamar Muskal: Maus by Art Spiegelman 

AJ Peoples: Antiracist Baby by Ibram X. Kendi

Performances are in April and in the Fall of 2023.