“A song recital by the luminous American mezzo-soprano Sasha Cooke is always an event…”

Opera News

Huang, heightened the story-telling of this interpretation…”

San Francisco Chronicle

[Jasmine Barnes is], refreshing, engaging, exciting.”

San Francisco Classical Voice

Vocal Arts DC presents

Sasha Cooke, Mezzo-soprano

Myra Huang, Piano

Jasmine Barnes, Composer

Of Thee I Sing

Tuesday, Nov 4, 2025

Kennedy Center Terrace Theater

7:30PM

90 Minutes, including a 20 minute internission.

Mezzo-soprano Sasha Cooke and pianist Myra Huang bring their deeply personal and moving recital Of Thee I Sing to Washington, DC, celebrating the rich tapestry of American song. Featuring works by composers who shaped—and were shaped by—America, the program explores themes of identity, belonging, and the search for home. From folk-inspired melodies to contemporary reflections, Cooke and Huang’s artistry brings these stories to life with warmth and emotional depth.

A highlight of the evening is the world premiere of a new song cycle by rising American composer Jasmine Barnes, whose music has been praised for its power and poignancy. This deeply resonant program not only honors composers who found their voice in America but also showcases the evolving landscape of American song. Don’t miss this chance to experience an unforgettable journey through music that speaks to the heart of the American experience.

“=*Of Thee I Sing  Recital Program:

Aaron Copland: “At The River” from Old American Songs, Set 2 

Samuel Barber: III. “Sure on This Shining Night” from Four Songs, op. 13  

John Musto: II. “Recuerdo” from Recuerdo 

Charles Ives: V. “The Circus Band” from  Five Street Songs 

Leslie Adams: I. “Prayer” from Nightsongs 

Jasmine Barnes: “American Lament”

1. “Let America be America Again” Part I

2. “The River Remembers”

3. “Let America be America Again” Part II

4. “America”

5. “Let America be America Again” Part III

Sergei Rachmaninoff: V. “Lilacs” from 12 Romances  

Alma Mahler: III. “Laue Sommernacht ” from Fünf Lieder  

Erich Korngold: I. “Was du mir bist?” from Drei Lieder     

Kurt Weill: “Youkali”

Moses Hogan arr. : “Give Me Jesus”

Leonard Bernstein: “A Simple Song”

Michael Tilson Thomas: “Grace”

Stephen Sondheim: “Children Will Listen” from Into the Woods 

George Gershwin: “Of Thee I Sing”

*Selections subject to change*

SOUND WORLD OF SASHA COOKE, MYRA HUANG, & JASMINE BARNES

LISTEN TO SASHA!

 

LISTEN TO MYRA!

 

LISTEN TO JASMINE!

 

MEET THE ARTISTS

SASHA COOKE, MEZZO-SOPRANO

Praised by OPÉRA MAGAZINE for her “agile, glamorous presence,” two-time Grammy Award-winning mezzo-soprano Sasha Cooke has been called a “luminous standout” by the New York Times and “equal parts poise, radiance and elegant directness” by Opera News.

MORE ABOUT SASHA!

Ms. Cooke has sung at the Metropolitan Opera, San Francisco Opera, English National Opera, Seattle Opera, Opéra National de Bordeaux, and Gran Teatre del Liceu, among others, and with over eighty symphony orchestras worldwide, frequently in the works of Mahler.

This season, she returns to Houston as Hänsel in Houston Grand Opera’s Hänsel und Gretel opposite Mané Galoyan, making her directorial debut leading the company’s family day presentation of the opera. She later joins Seattle Opera for her role debut in the title role of Bizet’s Carmen. In recital, Ms. Cooke tours her program Of Thee I Sing with pianist Myra Huang, appearing at the Kennedy Center presented by the Vocal Arts Society of D.C., Baylor University’s Distinguished Artists Series, Park Avenue Armory, and the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. On the concert stage, she sings Mahler’s Symphony no. 2 at the Ravinia Festival with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Marin Alsop, followed by the world premiere of Alex Turley’s the ocean’s dream of itself at the Grand Teton Music Festival, conducted by Sir Donald Runnicles. She joins Yannick Nézet-Séguin and the Philadelphia Orchestra for Verdi’s Requiem at Saratoga Performing Arts Center and appears with Baltimore Symphony, Palau de les Arts Reina Sofía, and the Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra in Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde, a signature piece of hers. She sings Handel’s Messiah with Music of the Baroque and Jane Glover, and with the Cincinnati Symphony, also conducted by Glover. She returns to the San Francisco Symphony for Mozart’s Requiem conducted by Manfred Honeck, and joins the Wiener Symphoniker in Mahler’s Symphony no. 3 conducted by Petr Popelka.

Additional concert appearances include Elgar’s Sea Pictures with the Sydney Symphony and Sir Donald Runnicles and Verdi’s Requiem with Detroit Symphony. She joins the Boston Symphony Orchestra Chamber Players for Mahler’s Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen, which she also sings with Bilbao Orkestra Sinfonika.

MYRA HUANG, PIANO

Acclaimed by Opera News as being “among the top accompanists of her generation,” and “…a colouristic tour de force” by The New York Times, Grammy® Award-nominated pianist Myra Huang is highly sought after for her interpretation of lieder and art song as well as her depth of musicianship and impeccable technique.

MORE ABOUT MYRA!

Huang is invited regularly to perform around the world, with tours including regular appearances at Carnegie Hall, Wigmore Hall, The Mostly Mozart Festival at Lincoln Center, The Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, The Kennedy Center, and The 92nd Street Y.

Huang was chosen as the recipient of The Samuel Sanders Collaborative Artist Award for 2019 by The Classical Recording Foundation for her consummate artistry. Regular collaborations include recitals with Fleur Barron, J’Nai Bridges, Lawrence Brownlee, Sasha Cooke, Ying Fang, Joshua Hopkins, Will Liverman, Angela Meade, John Matthew Myers, Eric Owens, Nicholas Phan, Susanna Phillips, Roderick Williams, and clarinetist Anthony McGill.

Huang holds the positions of the Head of Music for the Lindemann Young Artist Development Program at The Metropolitan Opera, The Director of Musical Administration and Head Coach at The Aspen Music Festival, and faculty of the Collaborative Piano Department at The Manhattan School of Music, where she mentors and supports young opera singers and pianists of the next generation.

Huang is an avid recitalist and recording artist. She is a two-time Grammy nominee for her albums Gods and Monsters and Clairières with tenor Nicholas Phan on the Avie label. Huang is a Steinway Artist.

JASMINE BARNES, COMPOSER

Jasmine Arielle Barnes (September 28, 1991) is an Emmy award winning composer and acclaimed vocalist who has performed and has had her music performed worldwide.

Her music has been described as “refreshing..,engaging…,exciting” by San Francisco Classical Voice, “Beautifully lyrical” by The Telegraph (UK), and “the best possible blend of Billie Holiday and Claude Debussy” by Boston Globe. 

MORE ABOUT JASMINE!

The twice over graduate from Morgan State University is is a recent recipient of Opera America’s Discovery Opera Grant for women composers among two other grants from Opera America for her new opera “She Who Dared” premiering at Chicago Opera Theater in June 2025, commissioned by American Lyric Theater with Deborah D.E.E.P. Mouton, librettist.

She has been commissioned by numerous organizations such as NY Philharmonic , American Composers Forum, and Juilliard Pre College, San Francisco Symphony, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, Carnegie Hall, Washington National Opera and the Kennedy Center, Nashville Symphony Orchestra, Aspen Music Festival and School, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, Apollo Chamber Players, Baltimore Choral Arts, CityMusic Cleveland, LyricFest Philadelphia, among others.

Jasmine Barnes is represented by UIA Talent Agency.

These performances are external rentals presented in coordination with the Kennedy Center Campus Rentals Office and are not produced by the Kennedy Center.

CONTACT US

info@vocalartsdc.org

202-240-2854

1025 Connecticut Ave NW #1000

Washington, DC 20036