A new solo album to be released later this month by Davis-based pianist Lara Downes, takes inspiration from the Langston Hughes poem “Let America Be America Again.”

The album, “America Again,” features 19 pieces that Downes says, "explore the elusive but essential American dream."  

She will perform in San Francisco on Oct. 25 and at the Mondavi Center in Davis, Oct. 29. 

Lara Downes previews her music, which she says she conceived in June 2015 in response to the shooting at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina.

Lara Downes was featured in NPR's "10 Classical Albums That Saved 2016" on "Deceptive Cadence."

She was also featured in an interview with the Boston Globe.

Sounds of America 1.17 Downes 1 by Anonymous RdbfyuKwB on Scribd