Damien Sneed: I Dream a World

Written by Justin Austin

Baritone

In category: Song of the Day

Published September 15, 2017

“I Dream a World” is one of the most beautiful and loving poems by Langston Hughes I have come across. Langston speaks about a dream world where every person is equally as valuable and should be treated with respect. As farfetched as this idea may seem, I believe that this world Hughes is speaking of can actually come to fruition. He didn’t see it in his lifetime and I probably won’t see it in mine, but he contributed to that becoming a reality one day. A long time ago I dedicated my life to music as my contribution to making the world we live in a better place for everyone. So I accept “I Dream a World” as a call to action to do even more for the world so we as a people can stop dreaming and start living. I will be premiering a setting of “I Dream a World” by Damien Sneed on October 9 at Carnegie Hall at 8pm with the composer at the piano. Damien and I actually made our Carnegie Hall debut together in Wynton Marsalis’ Abbyssinian Mass. I was a soloist and he was the conductor. So it is very fitting for us to collaborate again for our return to Carnegie for our recital debut. Please come out if you can to hear the first performance of this powerful piece

I Dream a World

I dream a world where man
No other man will scorn,
Where love will bless the earth
And peace its paths adorn
I dream a world where all
Will know sweet freedom’s way,
Where greed no longer saps the soul
Nor avarice blights our day.
A world I dream where black or white,
Whatever race you be,

Will share the bounties of the earth
And every man is free,

Where wretchedness will hang its head
And joy, like a pearl,

Attends the needs of all mankind–
Of such I dream, my world!

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Praised in Opera News as “a gentle actor and elegant musician”, baritone Justin Austin joined Heidelberger Frühling in 2017 as a Lied Scholar Artist in Lied Akademie with Artistic Director Thomas Hampson and Opera Theatre of Saint Louis as a Richard Gaddes Festival Artist. In July 2016, Justin was honored by the National Association of Negro Musicians and named the National Winner of their prestigious Vocal Performance Scholarship. Justin is a NYFOS Emerging Artist program alum, and will make his Carnegie Hall recital debut and perform on the Mainstage with NYFOS in Take Care of This House this fall.

1 Comment

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    The world as it should be!

    Reply

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