White Snakes Projects to Present American Premiere of Davids’ ‘Requiem for America: Singing for the Invisible People’
By David SalazarWhite Snake Projects is set to present the American premiere of Brent Michael Davids’s “Requiem for America: Singing for the Invisible People” on Nov. 14, 2026, at Jordan Hall, following the work’s world premiere by the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Chorus in London on May 17.
The project is co-commissioned by White Snake Projects and The Lenape Center with support from the Mellon Foundation, among other institutional partners. Teddy Abrams will conduct the London premiere, while Tianhui Ng leads the Boston performance.
The composition, timed to coincide with the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, confronts the genocidal treatment of Native Americans during the founding of the United States. Davids, a citizen of the Stockbridge-Munsee Community of Mohican/Munsee-Lenape heritage, juxtaposes historical letters from Indigenous peoples with founding-era texts to examine the origins of American statehood across 17 states, with additional states planned for subsequent iterations.
The work features a contralto narrator embodying the Earth and spans movements from “The Doctrine of Discovery,” referencing the Papal edict authorizing European colonization, to “Threnoedia: We Are Still Here.” Both premieres will include Native American chorus singers and Davids performing on Native American flute.
“Requiem for America tells the Indigenous perspective of the original founding events of our shared American history,” Davids stated per an official press release. “It sings about the invisibility of Native people. I hope Requiem reminds audiences that Native people have vitality and that our voices can be clearly heard.”
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