Bass-baritone Davóne Tines and the early music ensemble Ruckus are set to present their new program “What is Your Hand in This?” to ten cities across the United States this winter.

Conceived by Douglas Adam August Balliett, Davóne Tines, and Clay Zeller-Townson, to mark the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, “What is Your Hand in This?” resists simple celebration. Instead, it asks audiences to confront the complexity of America’s founding and to reflect on their own role in its ongoing story. The program explores America’s revolutionary music through four centuries of reimagined songs, hymns, and ballads, including newly commissioned works and arrangements by Tines and Balliett,

The tour launches in Washington, DC, on Jan. 28, 2026, at Sixth & I, followed by performances in Philadelphia at the Episcopal Cathedral on Jan. 29. Next up is, New York at Zankel Hall on Jan. 30 and Boston at Sanders Theater on Jan. 31. The ensemble continues to Richmond’s Camp Concert Hall on Feb. 1 before heading west to Hahn Hall in Santa Barbara on Feb. 3), the Patricia Reser Center for the Arts in Portland, OR, on Feb. 5), the Herbst Theater in San Francisco on Feb. 7,  and Grace St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Tucson on Feb. 8. The tour concludes on Feb. 10 at the August Wilson African American Cultural Center in Pittsburgh, PA.

“What is Your Hand in This?” juxtaposes centuries, styles, and traditions to ask audiences to reflect on history and the present moment. More than a display of talent or virtuosity, the program is designed as a communal experience, inviting the audience to consider the ongoing project of American identity and the personal responsibility each of us carries in shaping it.

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