April 10, 2026, 7:30pm - 9:00 PM
Battery Maritime Building - New York City
This KCO performance will mark the 250th anniversary year - the semiquincentennial - of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Featured will be a world premiere by Gary S. Fagin, “Each and All,” drawing on texts about democracy by Plato, Alexis de Tocqueville, Henry Longfellow, Walt Whitman, and Abraham Lincoln. To read excerpts from the libretto, click here.
The KCO will be joined by special guest Karen Karbiener, Whitman scholar, NYU Professor and Walt Whitman Initiative President. Karen will join KCO Music Director Gary S. Fagin in conversation about how Whitman’s words and works resonate with the current state of Democracy. The evening will feature vocalists Katherine Riddle, soprano, Rosena Hill Jackson, mezzo-soprano, Chauncey Packer, tenor, and Ben Davis, baritone. In addition to the premiere by Gary S. Fagin, the concert will also include works by Aaron Copland, Leonard Bernstein, and Ricky Ian Gordon.
In his 1871 book, “Democratic Vistas,“ Walt Whitman wrote, "We sail a dangerous sea of seething currents.” We look forward to seeing you on April 10 as the KCO, through history’s words and today’s music, addresses the treacherous condition of our “Ship of State.” Join us for a very special, thoughtful evening of music celebrating the rights and privileges we often take for granted, and that feel so fragile right now.