World Premiere: “Black Joy Verses” by Daniel Bernard Roumain

Daniel Bernard Roumain (DBR) is a prolific Black, Haitian-American composer and performer known for his signature violin sounds infused with myriad electronic and African-American music influences. For his Recomposing America project, ACF has co-commissioned a new work titled Black Joy Verses for Castle of our Skins, to be premiered in Spring 2027. About the Commission Black Joy Verses by Daniel Bernard Roumain explores Black agency, self-determination and creativity — highlighting and illuminating the virtuoso talents of orchestral musicians within a full body embrace of their expressive capabilities. The orchestra will play, speak, sing, shout, whisper, and produce sounds that express the soulful, loving, and powerful legacy of tragedy and triumph our collective American history continues to grapple with. The work will incorporate the writings of Frederick Douglas, Earnest Roumain (a contemporary of Frederick Douglas and relative to DBR), and bell hooks, principally concepts from their “All About Love,” a manual on how we all do and won’t love. Recomposing America is a multi-year initiative led by American Composers Forum that highlights artistic perspectives unique to the United States and the broader Americas through direct commissions, institutional collaborations, and public dialogue. Timed with the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, Recomposing America aims to refresh and reimagine the “who,” “what,” and “why” of the United States, and the stories therein.