The Work

Premiere: March 2026

Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall

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Joseph C. Phillips is working to create a symphonic work based on his 1619 cycle, a collection of six, one- to two-and-a-half-hour operas. In the composer’s words, “the cycle, through live music performance, immersive film, dance, and innovative staging and lighting design, presents stories reflecting and illuminating several consistent themes throughout the history of the United States, reflecting the predacity of American life but also highlighting the human stories of joy, love, and resistance in the face of that oppression. Initially inspired by both the 2014 The Atlantic article The Case for Reparations by Ta-Nehisi Coates and by the 2019 New York Times The 1619 Project, the 1619 opera cycle is a unique project; one that broadens those first inspirations, beyond black and white, in order to reckon with historical nuance and context and, as writer Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz [has] expressed, how we might acknowledge the reality of US history to transform society.

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This piece is published via EarShot Publishing. A version for youth orchestra and supporting educational materials are also available. Visit EarShot Publishing to learn more.

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Recent Work

Lead support for EarShot CoLABoratory is generously provided by TD Charitable Foundation, Altman Foundation, Jerome Foundation, The New York Community Trust Van Lier Fellowships, and the Virginia B. Toulmin Foundation.