BROWN SOUNDS

From: Keene, Texas. LA Opera: Big Stone in Eurydice (2020, debut); Sara in Roberto Devereux (2020); the Digital Short Brown Sounds (2021); Azucena in Il Trovatore (2021).

Raehann Bryce-Davis has been hailed by The New York Times as a “striking mezzo soprano” and by the San Francisco Chronicle for her “electrifying sense of fearlessness.”

In the 2023/24 season, Ms. Bryce-Davis debuted at Santa Fe Opera as Ježibaba in Rusalka in a new production directed by Sir David Pountney and conducted by Lidiya Yankovskaya, and at Opera Philadelphia as Lizzie in the world premiere of 10 Days in a Madhouse. Raehann returned to the Metropolitan Opera as Ella in X: The Life and Times of Malcom X in a new production by Robert O’ Hare and to Dutch National Opera to sing La Zia Principessa in Il Trittico a new Barrie Kosky production conducted by Lorenzo Viotti. In concert engagements, she performed Mahler’s Symphony No. 3 with the Melbourne Symphony orchestra conducted by Jaime Martín and Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde with the Luxembourg Philharmonie. Ms. Bryce-Davis gave recitals at Vocal Arts Society in Washington D.C., San Francisco Performances, Music at Amherst and St. Matthew’s Music Guild in California.

In the 2022/23 season, Ms. Bryce-Davis made noteworthy house debuts at Washington National Opera as Azucena in Il Trovatore, at the Royal Danish Opera in her role debut as Amneris in Aida, and with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra and Dutch National in her role debut as Jezibaba in Rusalka, conducted by Joana Mallwitz. She also sang with the BBC Proms in Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9. Additional concert engagements include the world premiere of A Nation of Others with the New York Oratorio Society at Carnegie Hall; a tour titled Our Song, Our Story, curated by Damien Sneed; and New York recitals for the George London Foundation and 89 Reade Series.

As a producer/performer, Ms. Bryce-Davis has released To the Afflicted, her first music video, which received widespread critical acclaim and was chosen as an official video for World Opera Day. Her second digital short, Brown Sounds, was co-produced with LA Opera and Aural Compass Projects, and won Best Music Video at film festivals around the globe including the New York International Film Awards, New York Cinematography Awards, Hollywood Boulevard Film Awards, the Anatolian Short Film Festival, and the Silk Road Film Awards – Cannes.

In the 2021/22 season, Ms. Bryce-Davis debuted at the Metropolitan Opera as Baba the Turk in The Rake’s Progress conducted by Susanna Mälkki, and at La Monnaie de Munt, Brussels as La Zia Principessa in Suor Angelica. She returned to both LA Opera and the Staatstheater Nürnberg as Azucena in Il Trovatore, and to Opera Ballet Vlaanderen as the Composer in Ariadne auf Naxos. On the concert stage, she sang solo recitals at both the Tuesday Musical Club in San Antonio, Texas, and for the Merola Opera Program.

Highlights of recent seasons include her role debut as Eboli in Don Carlos at Opera Ballet Vlaandren, her role debut as Sara in Roberto Devereux at LA Opera, opposite Angela Meade and Ramón Vargas and conducted by Eun Sun Kim, and her house debut at LA Opera as Big Stone in the world premiere of Matthew Aucoin’s Eurydice. She has sung Léonore in Donizetti’s La Favorite at the Teatro Massimo di Palermo, Marguerite in Berlioz’s La Damnation de Faust conducted by John Nelson with the Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional de Costa Rica, both Ms. Alexander in Satyagraha and Nezhata in Rimsky-Korsakov’s Sadko at Opera Ballet Vlaanderen, Kristina in Janáček’s The Makropulos Affair at the Janáček Brno Festival, Wellgunde in Wagner’s Die Ring-Trilogie at Theater an der Wien, and Madeline Mitchell in Jake Heggie’s Three Decembers at Opera Maine.

Concert highlights include the world premiere of Paul Moravec’s Sanctuary Road at Carnegie Hall, the recording of which won a Grammy Nomination, Verdi’s Requiem both with conductor Kent Nagano and the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal at the Olympic Stadium and the Oratorio Society of New York at Carnegie Hall, Elgar’s Sea Pictures at the Musikverein in Vienna with the Tonkünstler Orchestra, the world premiere of Anthony Davis’ We Call the Roll with The Lied Society, Martinů’s Julietta with the American Symphony Orchestra at Carnegie Hall, John Corigliano’s Of Rage and Remembrance at the Aspen Music Festival, the world premiere of Come, My Tan-Faced Children by Melissa Dunphy at Lyric Fest, Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 at the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine, Prokofiev’s Alexander Nevsky with Philippe Entremont at Manhattan School of Music, and Mahler’s Symphony No. 8 with the South Dakota Symphony Orchestra.

Ms. Bryce-Davis is a recipient of the George London; the 1st Place and Audience Prize-winner of the Concorso Lirico Internazionale di Portofino, chaired by Dominique Meyer; winner of the 2016 Richard F. Gold Career Grant at the Merola Opera Program; winner of the 2015 Hilde Zadek Competition at the Musikverein in Vienna; and the 2015 Sedat Gürel – Güzin Gürel International Voice Competition in Istanbul. She holds a Master of Music and Professional Studies certificate from the Manhattan School of Music and a Bachelor of Music from the University of Texas at Arlington.

Learn more at Raehann.com.

From: London, England. LA Opera: composer for the Digital Short Brown Sounds (2021).

Ayanna Witter-Johnson is a multi-talented singer, songwriter, pianist and cellist. She has a phenomenal mastery for seamlessly crossing the boundaries of classical, jazz, reggae, soul and R&B, to imprint her unique musical signature with her virtuosic tap, strum and bow with her cello into her sound and vibe.

“As a second-generation Jamaican born in Britain, my music is a body of work that represents, celebrates and pays homage to my ancestral heritage, culture and identity,” explains Ayanna.

An acclaimed and celebrated performer, Ayanna has collaborated with many stellar artists, including Anoushka Shankar, Nitin Sawhney, Andrea Bocelli and Jools Holland. She has also toured extensively across the UK, Europe and the US.

After graduating with a first-class degree from Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance and the Manhattan School of Music, Ayanna participated in the London Symphony Orchestra’s Panufnik Young Composers Scheme. Soon after, as Emerging Artist in Residence at London’s Southbank Centre, Ayanna performed as a featured artist with Courtney Pine’s Afropeans: Jazz Warriors. Later, whilst studying in the USA at New York’s Manhattan School of Music, she became the only non-American to win Amateur Night Live at the legendary Apollo Theatre in Harlem..

As a composer, Ayanna has been commissioned by the London Symphony Orchestra, Güerzenich Orchester, Ligeti Quartet, Kronos Quartet and The Hip-Hop Shakespeare Company to name but a few. She was also selected as an arranger/orchestrator for the London Symphony Orchestra (Hugh Masekela, Belief) and the BBC Symphony Orchestra (Urban Classic).

Ayanna has released three EPs (Truthfully, Black Panther and Ella, Reuben & Ay) and put out her debut album Road Runner in 2019, with its two subsequent singles, "Nothing Less" and "Crossroads," via her own independent record label (Hill and Gully Records). Ayanna has worked with producers Marc Mac (4Hero), James Yarde (Terri Walker, Jamelia, Eric Benet) and recorded with featured artists, including pianist Robert Mitchell and rapper Akala.

With her January 2021 surprise-released EP Rise Up, Ayanna again combined reggae, classical, jazz and R&B to celebrate black culture and identity to uplift and inspire the next generation. The stunning collection of three tracks and videos featuring Akala on "Rise Up," Cleveland Watkiss on "Declaration Of Rights" and "Rise Up Riddim" have received a huge amount of critical acclaim.

Ayanna said, "In ‘Rise Up,’ I created a song with a strong message specifically influenced by my Jamaican heritage. The starting point was a dancehall riddim that informed the main cello riff. Lyrically, I challenged myself to create something uplifting with an uplifting message, and it just flowed. I wrote the song for the next generation in the black community to remember they are the key to the future. To celebrate their culture and to be proud of it. Now is not the time to give up on your dreams. No matter how hard things seem, Rise Up, embrace our history and claim our birth rights of freedom and joy.”

Many of Ayanna’s remarkable tracks have received airplay on radio stations, including BBC Radio 1, 1Xtra, 2, 3, 4, 6, BBC Radio London, BBC Manchester, Jazz FM and Scala Radio. Her TV credits include BBC One, London Live, Channel 4 (Sing It Loud: Black and Proud), BBC Proms and a stunning performance on Later…with Jools Holland (BBC One).

Despite the challenges of 2020, Ayanna took it all in her stride and continued to create music. She performed a special livestream for Royal Albert Hall, took part in Trinity Laban’s Virtual Orchestra and picked up an AIM Award nomination for Best Live Act. In addition, she presented two shows at Wigmore Hall, appeared on BBC Radio 3’s This Classical Life podcast, co-wrote and featured on Anoushka Shankar’s Grammy single "Those Words" from the Grammy-nominated Love Letters EP. Ayanna also collaborated with and featured on Nitin Sawhney’s stunning single "Movement Variation II" taken from his acclaimed recent album Immigrants.

2021 was a stellar year for Ayanna. Collaborating with Solem Quartet as part of their Beethoven Bartok Now series, she has also had her song "Draw the Line" commissioned by The Hermes Experiment, and featured on their sophomore album Songs. Ayanna also featured on the track called "Flow My Tears" with John Aram, the arranger for Phil Collins. The song is a slick, modern-day reimagining of English composer John Dowland’s 400- year-old music. That year saw Ayanna return to the live stage, headlining at London’s iconic Jazz Café and Kings Place. She made additional performances supporting Nubiyan Twist on their UK tour, participating in Jazz Voice (the opening of the London Jazz Festival) at the Royal Festival Hall and a 22-date U.S. tour with opera superstar Andrea Bocelli.

In 2022, Ayanna continued her composition work with several commissions for ensembles and orchestras, including a Royal Philharmonic Society Commission for the Philharmonia Ensemble (‘Equinox’). Her talent saw her compose for the sold out, hit theatre production The Collaboration at London’s Young Vic Theatre, and composed additional music for the renowned documentary Hostile.

With two headlined shows at London’s Purcell Rooms, and a headlined show at Wigmore Hall featuring guest artists, Ayanna’s continues to inspire with her composition FAIYA! performed by the LSO in Trafalgar Square (conducted by Sir Simon Rattle), and collaborating on a number of live performances with Solem Quartet of her composition Island Suite, which was originally commissioned by them as part of their Beethoven Bartok Now Part IV series.

Venturing into new territories, Ayanna was cast in a cameo role in the new Amazon Prime series adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s Anansi Boys, alongside greats such as Whoopi Goldberg, which airs in 2024. She is currently on tour (EU/UK/USA/Canada) with Peter Gabriel as a member of his band (voice, cello, piano) for his upcoming album i/o.

Ayanna is a performer of extraordinary versatility, due to her musical prowess, mesmerising vocals, non-compromising lyrics, and ability to deftly reinterpret songs on the cello. Her must-see live shows are intimate journeys that chronicle her experience as a female artist in the 21st century.

Ayanna Witter-Johnson is the very definition of eclectic soul.

Learn more at AyannaMusic.com.

Born: 1934 (Sweet Home, Arkansas). Died: 1968 (New York City, New York). LA Opera: His poem "Brown Sounds" was set to music by composer Ayanna Witter-Johnson for a 2021 Digital Short.

“In 1968, a young Black man, Henry Dumas, went through a turnstile at a New York City subway station. A transit cop shot him in the chest and killed him. Circumstances surrounding his death remain unclear. Before that happened, however, he had written some of the most beautiful, moving and profound poetry and fiction that I have ever in my life read.”
—Toni Morrison

Fiction writer and poet Henry Dumas was born in Arkansas, but moved to Harlem when he was 10. He attended City College in New York before joining the Air Force; he was stationed in San Antonio, Texas, and on the Arabian Peninsula. Dumas attended Rutgers University and worked for a year at IBM, then left the company to teach and direct language workshops at Southern Illinois University. He and his wife, Loretta Ponton, had two sons. Identified with the Black Power movement during his lifetime, Dumas was also active in the civil rights movement. At the age of 33, Dumas was shot and killed by a New York City Transit policeman in a case of mistaken identity.
 
Eugene Redmond, a fellow teacher at Southern Illinois University, helped to make Dumas’s work available; posthumous collections of Dumas’s poetry include Play Ebony, Play Ivory (1974) and Knees of a Natural Man: The Selected Poetry of Henry Dumas (1989). Dumas’s poetry is influenced by his interests in African American history, jazz, gospel music, and Arabic culture and mythology (an interest piqued during his time stationed on the Arabian Peninsula), as well as Christianity and the supernatural.
 
Dumas’s short stories are collected in Goodbye Sweetwater: New and Selected Stories (1988) and Echo Tree: The Collected Short Fiction of Henry Dumas (2003).

Courtesy of The Poetry Foundation

LA Opera: director of the Digital Short Brown Sounds (2021).

Jérémy Adonis is a French-born filmmaker and photographer based in Belgium. 

After scientific studies and a degree in civil engineering, he moved to Belgium to study the techniques of image and cinematography. He graduated in 2016 with distinction. His short film Son of Icarus, a personal drama, has screened in several different festivals in Europe. Making the film confirmed his passion of directing and tell stories through cinema. He continued honing his directorial skills by directing different projects in the Belgian industry, from music videos, to live concerts, to promotional spots.

Obsessed by aesthetics and visuals art, he also works as a photographer, developing a dark and cinematic universe through his pictures.

In a world surrounded by images, he values each frame that he considers as powerful as paintings in which he can express himself.

Today his main goal is to direct new projects and films, using the power of visual to tell stories, express feelings and reach new emotions.

Allan Virgo is the costume designer/stylist for the 2021 Digital Short Brown Sounds.

Born in paradise, in the "Land of Wood and Water," Jamaica, Allan Virgo was introduced into the world of fashion very early on. His journey began among the heaps and mounds of fabric and patterns in his mother's seamstress and dressmaking business. By the tender age of seven, Allan was already well versed in the art of garment making and construction. Under his mother’s tutelage, he developed and mastered the skill of making beautiful clothes, while understanding the importance of constant innovation and a strong work ethic.

After completing high school in Jamaica, Allan moved to New York where he attended the prestigious Fashion Institute of Technology (F.I.T). He received an associate degree in fashion design, then bachelor of science in international trade and marketing. He began his robust career by playing an integral role on design teams such as Baby Phat by Kimora Lee Simmons, Guess, Michael Kors, Kenneth Cole and Macy’s .

In 2010 through 2013 Allan Virgo returned to his native Jamaica to introduce his spring/summer collections at Jamaica StyleWeek. With an eccentric and unpredictable flair, Allan garnered critical acclaim and stellar reviews in the Jamaica Gleaner, Jamaican Observer, Fashion Bomb Daily Style Magazine, and was featured in Vogue Italia and British Vogue. After a successful debut and with many years of experience, he decided it was time to launch his self-titled outerwear brand based in New York. His philosophy is to be forever committed to innovative design, craftsmanship, functionality and quality that are influenced by American culture and his Jamaican roots. Titled simply "Allan Virgo," his brand is anything but; he is known to challenge the aesthetic of typical ready-to-wear outerwear. The Allan Virgo brand is burgeoning amongst fashion’s elite buyers such as international retailer GILT Japan. Allan's greatest hope for the future is to continue to challenge the norm by blurring the lines of his own artistic expression and wearable fashion while continuing to inspire others through his work.