Composer and arranger Carlos Simon joins the Kennedy Center in 2021–2022 as its new Composer-in-Residence. During his three-year residency, Simon will compose and present music across artistic genres, act as the Kennedy Center’s leading ambassador for new music, and participate in ongoing Kennedy Center education, social impact, community engagement, and major institutional initiatives. To celebrate his appointment, the NSO recorded a concert of Simon’s works for the Center’s Digital Stage+ platform. The Orchestra will also play his Tales - A Folklore Symphony, March 3-5, 2022. Together with Kennedy Center Vice President and Artistic Director of Social Impact Marc Bamuthi Joseph, he has composed the opera it all falls down as part of Written in Stone for Washington National Opera, making its world premiere March 5-25, 2022.
Carlos Simon is a multi-faceted and highly sought-after composer whose music ranges from concert music for large and small ensembles to film scores with influences of jazz, gospel, and neo-romanticism. Recently announced as Composer-in-Residence at the Kennedy Center, Carlos’s commissioning highlights include premiere works with New York Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Los Angeles Opera, Philadelphia Orchestra, and Washington National Opera. The Philadelphia Enquirer described his music as ​“perfectly engaging and propulsive.” Simon’s latest album, My Ancestor’s Gift, which was released in April 2018 on Navona Records, epitomises Simon’s work by incorporating spoken word and historic recordings alongside traditional classical music, crafting a multi-faceted record that speaks to audiences past and future. In 2017, Carlos Simon joined the inaugural class of the Gabriela Lena Frank Academy of Music. He then went on to be named a Sundance/​Time Warner Composer Fellow in 2018, seeing him work at the legendary Skywalker Ranch, and he was a recipient of the Sphinx Medal of Excellence in 2021.
March 3-5, 2022
Under the direction of Gianandrea Noseda, the National Symphony Orchestra presents the NSO premiere of Tales - A Folklore Symphony by Composer-in-Residence Carlos Simon. Also on the program, two-time Grammy Award®-winning violinist James Ehnes plays Beethoven’s famous Violin Concerto.
March 5-25, 2022
In four unmissable world premieres, creative teams Jason Moran and Alicia Hall Moran, Huang Ruo and David Henry Hwang, Kamala Sankaram and A.M. Homes, and Carlos Simon and Marc Bamuthi Joseph present intimate and interwoven stories that celebrate diversity and acknowledge the struggles of today’s America.
it all falls down
Music by Carlos Simon
Libretto by Marc Bamuthi Joseph
In this story of love and reconciliation, a father and son meet on opposite sides of a rally about same-sex marriage outside of the Supreme Court.
“This story is one that comes directly out of the Black American Church experience. Historically, this monument has been a safe haven for many in the African American community. It is a place to call ‘home’ and a village where one can be true to one’s culture without judgement. it all falls down tells a different narrative of what happens when certain groups within the tribe are isolated. Musically, I use gospel-influenced idioms to reflect the music of the church with strong lyrical writing to emphasize the emotional content of each of the characters.”
—Carlos Simon
