Description
Print Center New York is pleased to present a new performance of Bethany Collins’s project America: A Hymnal, which offers a chronological retelling of American history, politics, and culture through one song. Over time, “My Country ’Tis of Thee” (also known as “America”) has seen its title and lyrics re-written at least 100 times in support of passionately held causes—from temperance and suffrage to abolition and even the Confederacy.
During this one-hour performance at the Fifteenth Street Meetinghouse of The Religious Society of Friends (also known as Quakers), singers from The Unsung Collective will sing a single version of the anthem, “War” from 1862, in a myriad of musical forms.
The Unsung, directed by Tyrone Clinton, is a community-based music collective devoted to celebrating stories of the Black experience. They are a non-profit dedicated to serving the local NYC community by expanding the confines of the Western musical canon and fostering educational relationships with those who are “willing to listen.”
Why You Should Attend
Held in conjunction with the exhibition Visual Record: The Materiality of Sound in Print, this performance debuts in New York City with a new presentation created by artist Bethany Collins in collaboration with The Unsung Collective.
