On Tuesday, August 25, Mezzo-soprano Raehann Bryce-Davis released her new music video “To the Afflicted” (“All’afflitto è dolce il pianto” from Donizetti’s “Roberto Devereux”).

The video features pianist Esme Wong and is co-directed by Bryce-Davis and Jon Goff, and is a reflection of Raehann’s personal journey in the midst of the pandemic, which, in this time of cancellations and the Black Lives Matter movement, is familiar to so many.

In a statement, Bryce-Davis, who performed the aria on March 8 at LA Opera before the production was canceled due to COVID-19, said, “In the show, my character is singing a song of mourning for her lover who is far away and I wanted to sing this song of mourning for opera and for equity that feel so far away. It is a time of so much loss: lives have been lost, dreams, careers, relationships.”

She added, “But there are some positives that have come out of this. Our country is in the middle of this beautiful awakening, this moral wrestling with our past.” And depending on our actions, we can spawn a better future.

The video is a way of raising awareness and funds for two organizations that are dedicated to providing essential support to artists. The first is Black Opera Alliance and the second is Arts Unlimited Southwest. 

Here is the video.

Raehann Bryce-Davis “To the Afflicted” from IMG Artists on Vimeo.