The All Sing: Here Lies Joy
PROTOTYPE celebrates its 10th anniversary season in Times Square by bringing hundreds together in song for a public performance of the communal choral work The All Sing: Here Lies Joy.
Originally commissioned in direct response to the forced isolation of the pandemic, The All Sing is an ode to human connection and the power of collective voice. A vibrant tapestry of poetic justice, and hope, The All Sing is composed by Daniel Bernard Roumain (DBR), features a libretto by Marc Bamuthi Joseph, and will be musically directed by Damien Sneed.
All are welcome to join this celebration of connection and community, whether you’re a professional singer or you barely sing in the shower. In one of the world’s most’s iconic public spaces, we’ll gather together for an unforgettable moment and appeal for a more just and joy-filled world.
Sign Up Here to Join The All Sing
Commissioned, developed, and produced by PROTOTYPE: Opera | Theatre | Now, in partnership with Time Square Arts.
About Daniel Bernard Roumain, Composer
Daniel Bernard Roumain (DBR) is a Black, Haitian-American composer who sees composing as collaboration with artists, organizations and communities within the farming and framing of ideas. “About as omnivorous as a contemporary artist gets” (New York Times), Roumain has worked with artists from J’Nai Bridges, Lady Gaga and Philip Glass to Bill T. Jones, Marin Alsop and Anna Deavere Smith. He has composed music for the acclaimed film AILEY (Sundance official selection); was the first Music Director and Principal Composer with the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company; released and appeared on 30 album recordings; and has published over 300 works. He currently is a board member for the Association of Performing Arts Professionals (Vice Chair), League of American Orchestras, and is a voting member for the Recording Academy GRAMMY awards. Roumain is currently a tenured Associate and Institute Professor at Arizona State University Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts.
About Marc Bamuthi Joseph, Libretto
Marc Bamuthi Joseph is a 2017 TED Global Fellow, an inaugural recipient of the Guggenheim Social Practice initiative, and an honoree of the United States Artists Rockefeller Fellowship. Bamuthi’s opera libretto, We Shall Not Be Moved, was named one of 2017’s “Best Classical Music Performances” by The New York Times. His evening length work created in collaboration with composer Daniel Bernard Roumain, The Just and The Blind, was commissioned by Carnegie Hall and premiered to a sold out house at Carnegie Hall in March 2019. His upcoming piece, In His Name, is inspired by the forgiveness exhibited by the congregation of Emanuel AME church in Charleston, and will premiere at The Perelman Center in New York.
About Damien Sneed, Music Direction
Damien Sneed is a pianist, vocalist, organist, composer, conductor, producer, arranger, recording artist, instrumentalist, and arts educator whose work spans multiple genres. He has worked with musical legends including the late Aretha Franklin and Jessye Norman, Wynton Marsalis, Stevie Wonder, Diana Ross, Ashford & Simpson, J’Nai Bridges, Lawrence Brownlee, and more. He is a 2014 Sphinx Medal of Excellence recipient, a 2020 Dove Award winner, and a 2021 NAACP Image Award winner for his work as a featured producer and writer on the Clark Sisters’ recently released album The Return. Sneed is currently a faculty member of the Manhattan School of Music and Artist-in-Residence at Michigan State University. During the 2018-2019 season, he served as music director, composer in residence, and cover conductor for the staff of the Houston Grand Opera, who commissioned him to compose a new chamber opera about the life of Marian Anderson, Marian’s Song, which had its world premiere in 2020. Other commissions include the original score for Testament, a contemporary response to the 60th Anniversary of Revelations, for Alvin Ailey Dance Theater’s first virtual season; and a chamber opera, The Tongue & The Lash, for Opera Theatre of Saint Louis in 2021. He is currently commissioned to compose his fourth opera, a reimagined adaptation of Scott Joplin’s Treemonisha, which premieres May 20, 2023, to open OTSL’s season.
The commissioning of The All Sing received funding from the Café Royal Cultural Foundation, and is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Officer of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.
A special thank you to Sherwood Equities.
