CURRENT: Routes Program Explores Black Cowboy Culture + Migrations in American Music at Autry Museum of the American West

Iconoclastic American pianist Lara Downes makes her highly-anticipated debut as the inaugural Creative Partner of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra (LACO), a preeminent interpreter of historical masterworks, with CURRENT: Routes, a program that navigates the highways and byways of American music, tracing the journeys and migrations that have shaped the country’s musical landscape. Downes appears with celebrated Grammy-winning folk musician Dom Flemons, known as The American Songster®, on Saturday, November 23, 2024, at the Autry Museum of the American West.

CURRENT: Routes explores the complex intersections of folk and classical traditions, showcasing how these influences have evolved over time and uncovering untold narratives of American life, including the stories of Black cowboys and their enduring contributions to Western culture.

Downes and Flemons delve into the folk melodies that inspired Aaron Copland’s compositions, centering on his score for the ballet “Billy The Kid,” which unexpectedly reveals the musical legacy of Black cowboys in the Wild West. The program also traces the migration route from Jim Crow Mississippi to mid-century Los Angeles of William Grant Still, known as the “Dean of African American omposers,” and follows other American road trips via Carlos Simon’s Warmth from Other Suns and John Adams’ Road Movies. 

Through this genre-fluid collaboration, Downes and Flemons highlight the emotional experiences of migration and the roots of modern Black culture, from the often-overlooked history of Black Americans whose contributions to the West left an enduring legacy to the current revival of Black country narratives via Beyoncé and other contemporary artists.

Downes, featured on piano, and Flemons, an expert on the banjo, guitar, harmonica, jug, percussion, quills, fife, and rhythm bones, are joined by LACO violinists Josefina Vergara and Susan Rishik, violist Jonathan Moerschel, and cellist Giovanna Clayton.