Baritone Justin Austin will give a solo recital at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall on March 5, 2024.

Joined by pianist Howard Watkins, the program will feature works by Weill, Bienert, Eisler, Ricky Ian Gordon, and Owens, among others.

“I often hear the phrase, don’t be angry,” Austin said in an official press statement. “We as a people are encouraged to suppress and even ignore our emotions when it comes to anger. Why? I think it’s because anger can be dangerous, hurtful, harmful, and destructive. But what if we needed to be angry and deal with it in order to not put anyone or ourselves in danger? What if what we really needed was not to never get angry, but to be able to process our anger constructively? What if we needed to sit with our anger and develop a healthy relationship with it? What if it was ok to be angry? In a time in our history where there is so much to be grateful for and yet so much to be angry about, I want to use art as a vehicle to explore anger and give the audience agency to be angry without it being taboo. Many musical performances provide escapism for people who want to temporarily forget about the problems of the world. I think that’s wonderful! My recital, Don’t Be Angry, will not be one of those performances.”

There will be a post-concert reception.

Austin is this year’s Marian Anderson Vocal Award winner and is set to perform with Lyric Opera of Chicago, Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, and Des Moines Metro Opera, among others.