Requiem for America tackles the genocidal founding of America across the 50 states, plus the District of Columbia, in three installments. Each Requiem consists of 19 movements and opens with the same Movement 1, “The Doctrine of Discovery,” that authorized colonizers to subjugate Indigenous peoples. Each Requiem ends with the same Movement 19, “Threnodia: We Are Still Here.”

Commissioned by White Snake Projects and The Lenape Center

"My vision is to tour Requiem to all 50 states, plus D.C. Each performance will feature Indigenous singers recruited from local tribal communities, an essential element to the mission: To create cultural catharsis as we speak the truth of the country’s genesis. Through truth-singing, we can collectively recount and face the nation’s blood-soaked nativity. This is a pivotal moment for a project I have nurtured on my own until now. After 20 years, I have found a collaborator, White Snake Projects, an activist performance company, to develop, support and premiere the work. WSP believes in the power of this work, not just artistically but in terms of what it can do for truth-telling. Together, we will be premiering the first Requiem in 2026, initially with the BBC on May 17th and then in Boston on November 14th."

Brent Michael Davids, composer