MUSE/IQUE 2024 Returns to Los Angeles This Fall 

MUSE/IQUE and Artistic and Music Director Rachael Worby conclude their 2024 season with four performances of Indivisible: The Glory of Lincoln's Musical Soul that explore the music that inspired and consoled President Lincoln during his tumultuous lifetime.

In dark and uncertain times, music has always given us the courage of conviction. With much of his presidency plagued by war and civil unrest, Abraham Lincoln often turned to music for comfort, encouragement, and hope.

Audiences will thrill to hear “The Battle Cry of Freedom,” songs from contemporary operettas, traditional spirituals, along with the folk-inspired works of Stephen Foster and traditional Scottish ballads, including excerpts from Lincoln's many speeches, letters and documents. Featured performers include soprano Alaysha Fox, tenor Nathan Granner, instrumentalist Gabe Witcher (of Punch Brothers), actor Wren T. Brown, and DC6 Singers Collective and friends, in one of our largest-ever orchestra and choir presentations.

Though he neither sang nor played an instrument, Lincoln once said: “Listening to melody, every man becomes his own poet and measures the depth of his own nature.” In these concerts, MUSE/IQUE examines the impact of music on Lincoln's soul. These triumphant performances celebrate the power of art to unite us and inspire us to keep marching forward. 

The concerts take place at 7:30 pm on Wednesday, October 16 and Thursday, October 17 outdoors at the Huntington Library in San Marino, and Sunday October 20, indoors at Skirball Cultural Center in West Los Angeles at 2:30pm and 7:30pm. Reservations for are now open. Visit muse-ique.com to learn about attending MUSE/IQUE events and explore membership plans.

The Huntington's Sandra Brooke Gordon, Avery Director of the Library, and Olga Tespina, Norris Foundation Curator of American History, are advising and collaborating on these concerts. There will also be some exquisite Lincoln artifacts from the Huntington's collection displayed on stage.

There is a free special student matinee at the Huntington on Thursday, October 17 at 10:30 am. Hundreds of students from across Southern California will attend including Abraham Lincoln High School (Lincoln Heights), Thomas Jefferson High School (Central LA), Carson High School, and Learning Works Charter School (Pasadena), among others.

MUSE/IQUE revival productions celebrate some of our favorite past curations and programs. We revisit these stories with the goal of bringing them to a wider audience. Versions of this production were first presented in 2015 and 2023. 

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