Brown Sounds

The product of an all-Black creative team, Brown Sounds is masterminded by the extraordinary Raehann Bryce-Davis, a rising star whose 2020 LA Opera appearances made audiences stand up and take notice. It's an evocative vocal piece tailored specifically for her ravishing mezzo-soprano: composer Ayanna Witter-Johnson's musical setting of poet Henry Dumas's delicious verses. In this uplifting new Digital Short, Brown Sounds gets a sumptuous visual treatment from a dynamic assembly of artists—filmmaker Jérémy Adonis, fashion designer Allan Virgo and dancer Lateef Williams—all united in a joyous celebration of Black art, Black bodies and Black consciousness. Brown Sounds is presented by LA Opera in collaboration with the African American Art Song Alliance, Aural Compass Projects, Black Opera Alliance, National Association of Negro Musicians and the Philadelphia Dance Company.