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About Carlos Simon
"Carlos Simon is a young composer on the rise, with an ear for social justice."
Carlos Simon is a GRAMMY-nominated composer, curator and activist. Originally from Atlanta, Georgia, his compositions range from concert music for large and small ensembles to film scores with influences of jazz, gospel, and neo-romanticism. Simon is the Composer-in-Residence for the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.
Latest Album
Hold Fast to Dreams
Inspired by the poem by Langston Hughes, Hold Fast to Dreams is a work for piano and violin, performed by Carlos Simon and Randall Goosby. The recording is part of the deluxe edition of Randall's album Roots.
See album details
Works
“A modern major composer: an artist whose windows are thrown wide open to the world, and whose musical scope of late lands like a grand panorama of American life.”
Schedule
June 1, 2024
The Gathering with ACO
The Gathering: A Collective Sonic Ring Shout will take us on a sonic quest produced by National Black Theatre & The Apollo. Taking place in the Opera House at The Kennedy Center, “The Gathering” will center the soul of Black folks and the heart of America's brilliant and bitter present.
This night will feature the DC premiere of Seven Last Words of the Unarmed by Joel Thompson alongside Carlos Simon’s Amen! and Courtney Bryan’s Sanctum. In conjunction with these pieces, the night has been curated in the African tradition of call and response to include original works by genre-defying Black artists such as Abby Dobson, Toshi Reagon, Troy Anthony, and Nona Hendryx.