Mezzo-Soprano Raehann Bryce-Davis Announces Debut Album Evolution

Internationally acclaimed opera singer, mezzo-soprano Raehann Bryce-Davis, is set to release her highly anticipated debut album Evolution, via Lexicon Classics, on April 11, 2025.

The album, which will be available on all streaming platforms, is a powerful autobiographical collection recorded over two years, in five cities and three countries. It reflects the profound and varied rhythms and influences shaping Bryce-Davis' life and career. Evolution intertwines operatic elements, dance music and art song with a rich tapestry of cultural influences; each track tells a personal story. 

The album features collaborations with some of the most exciting and influential names in contemporary music, including renowned composers Kamala Sankaram, Rene Orth, Maria Thompson Corley, B. E. Boykin, Jake Landau, and Timothy Amukele, alongside classic melodies by Schubert and Verdi. Additionally, paying tribute to Raehann's diverse musical roots, Evolution showcases the creative energy of international recording artists including Amsterdam-based rapper Karl Wine from French Guiana, the Latin Beats of Texas-based Dominican EJ Galvez, and Jamaican dancehall legend Lady Ann, bringing a bold, rhythmic vitality to each track. The album also features performances by “pianistic poet” Jeanne-Minette Cilliers, Juilliard-trained South African cellist Thapelo Masita, Reuben Kebede, the Ivalas Quartet, while in residency at The Juilliard School, and jazz percussionist and film composer Christian X. M. McGhee.

"The music that has comforted, devastated, and inspired me over the years has always spanned a variety of styles. Operatic singing rings true inside of me, and this album reflects stories about my family, my roots in Jamaica, my birthplace in Mexico, my upbringing as a Black girl in a small Texas town, and my evolution into a modern opera singer,” said Raehann about the album. “I have been yearning to tell my own stories and share the visions that are meaningful and important to me. With Evolution, sound worlds, cultures and colors collide throughout this kaleidoscope of an autobiography." 

IMMERSIVE LISTENING PARTY: TUESDAY, APRIL 8 AT BROOKLYN ART HAUS 

Be the first to experience Evolution in person on Tuesday April 8 at Brooklyn Art Haus with an immersive encounter featuring surround sound and cinematic visuals by Angela L. Owens.

Evolution Experience: 

Tuesday, April 8, 2025 at 8:00 pm

Brooklyn Art Haus (24 Marcy Avenue Brooklyn, NY 11211)

RSVP Here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/evolution-experience-tickets-1298098179599?aff=oddtdtcreator

(Press please contact Vanessa Waite for RSVP)

ALBUM TRACKS AND CREDITS

1. Evolution (Composer & performer: Raehann Bryce-Davis)

2. Serenade (Composer: Franz Schubert and Karl Wine, Lyrics: Ludwig Rellstab and Karl Wine, Performers:Raehann Bryce-Davis and Karl Wine)

3. Unspoken (Composer: Jake Landau, Lyrics: Leslie Andrea Williams, Performers: Raehann Bryce-Davis, Jeanne-Minette Cilliers, Reuben Kebede, Thapelo Masita, Christian X. M. McGhee)

4. Overcome (Composer: EJ Galvez, Lyrics: EJ Galvez, Performers: Raehann Bryce-Davis, EJ Galvez)

5. The Beauty in my Blackness (Composer and Lyrics: Maria Thompson Corley, Performers: Raehann Bryce-Davis, Jeanne-Minette Cilliers, Reuben Kebede, Thapelo Masita)

6. I Praise the Dance (Composer and Lyrics: Rene Orth, Performer: Raehann Bryce-Davis)

7. We Wear the Mask (Composer: B. E. Boykin, Lyrics: Paul Lawrence Dunbar, Performers: Raehann Bryce-Davis, Jeanne-Minette Cilliers, Thapelo Masita)

8. Black Rider's Freedom Song (Composer and Lyrics: Maria Thompson Corley, Performers: Raehann Bryce-Davis, Jeanne-Minette Cilliers, Ivalas Quartet)

9. End of Days (Composers: Giuseppe Verdi and Lady Ann, Performers: Raehann Bryce-Davis and Lady Ann

10. Kivalina (Composer and Lyrics: Kamala Sankaram, Performers: Raehann Bryce-Davis, Ivalas Quartet)

11. Stand the Storm (Composer: Traditional Spiritual arr. Timothy Amukele, Performers: Raehann Bryce-Davis and Jeanne-Minette Cilliers)

Total Time: 42:28

ALBUM CREDITS: 

Raehann Bryce-Davis, mezzo soprano

Karl Wine, recording artist

Lady Ann, DJ

EJ Galvez, recording artist

Jeanne-Minette Cilliers, piano

Thapelo Masita, cello

Reuben Kebede, violin

Ivalas Quartet: Reuben Kebede, violin, Tiani Butts, violin, Marcus Stevenson, viola, Pedro

Sanchez, cello

Christian X. M. McGhee, percussion

ABOUT RAEHANN BRYCE-DAVIS:

Raehann Bryce-Davis is an internationally acclaimed Jamaican-American opera singer known for her “electric sense of fearlessness” (San Francisco Chronicle). With a repertoire spanning opera, art song, and contemporary works, Bryce-Davis has captivated audiences worldwide with her expressive performances. She has sung leading roles at renowned institutions including the Royal Opera, the Metropolitan Opera, the BBC Proms, Bayerische Staatsoper, The Kennedy Center, and Carnegie Hall, earning critical praise for her compelling interpretations and vocal artistry. The New York Observer called her “one of the best mezzo-sopranos of this generation.”

Raehann can be heard on the Grammy-nominated album Sanctuary Road by Paul Moravec and Mark Campbell, and A Nation of Others by the same team, commissioned by Kent Tritle and the Oratorio Society of New York. She has sung the world premieres of 10 Days in a Madhouse by Rene Orth and Hannah Moscovitch at Opera Philadelphia's Festival ‘23, which was listed as the “best classical music of the year” by the Washington Post and Matthew Aucoin's Eurydice with Los Angeles Opera in collaboration with the Metropolitan Opera. Recent performances include Amneris in Aida at the Royal Opera House, Marfa in Khovanshchina at the Grand Theatre de Geneve, Azucena in Il Trovatore at the Houston Grand Opera, and Fricka in Das Rheingold with the Los Angeles Philharmonic conducted by Gustavo Dudamel.

As a producer/performer, Raehann released “To the Afflicted,” her first music video, which received widespread critical acclaim and was chosen as an official video for World Opera Day. Her second digital short, “Brown Sounds,” was co-produced with Los Angeles Opera and Aural Compass Projects, and won Best Music Video at film festivals around the globe including the New York International Film Awards, New York Cinematography Awards, Hollywood Boulevard Film Awards, the Anatolian Short Film Festival, and the Silk Road Film Awards – Cannes. A passionate advocate for representation in classical music, Bryce-Davis continues to break boundaries and inspire future generations of performers. 

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