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        • Gabriela Lena Frank

        • Ballad of John James Audubon and the Runaway (2025)
          (An American Tragedy Ignored and Retold)

        • G Schirmer Inc (World)

        For The Serge Koussevitzky Music Foundation in the Library of Congress, and dedicated to the memory of Serge and Natalie Koussevitsky // Commissioned by the Koussevitsky Foundation, Library of Congress and The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra with support from Elizabeth and Justus Schlichting

        Commissioner exclusivity applies

        Available for performance after January 2027.
        Unavailable for performance.

        • Bar + 2(II:pic).2.2(II:bcl).2/2.0.0.0/timp(perc).perc/hp/str
        • Baritone
        • 17 min
          • 30th January 2026, Ordway Concert Hall, St. Paul, MN, United States of America
          • 30th January 2026, Ordway Center for the Performing Arts, Saint Paul, MN, United States of America
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        Programme Note

        Composer note
        A few years ago, I chanced to read an essay by ornithologist and poet J. Drew Lanham in Audubon Magazine titled What Do We Do About John James Audubon? In it, Drew speaks eloquently and personally about the racist legacy of the founding father of American birding who “soared on the wings of white privilege.” The essay struck a chord in me even as I’m not Black nor a birder and only occasionally a poet. I’m a multi-racial Latina, a composer who grapples with the complicated legacies of not just classical music but my own personal heritage.

        We all live with the consequences of entangled histories. Our ancestors made choices that made our lives remarkable but also complicit with bloodshed.

        These are topics that still need to be reckoned with.

        It has been an honor for me to create this four-movement song cycle for baritone and chamber orchestra with Drew, inspired by his essay as well as his poetic and fictional work.

        For Mei-Ann Chen and Federico de Michelis

        — Gabriela Lena Frank

        Movements
        I. Two Men
        II. In the Bayou
        III. A Dread Promise
        IV. Kite Angel

        Scores

        More Info