About
Created by composer Ron Ramin and librettist/producer Portia Kamons, SEVENTEEN conveys the recent experiences of young Americans as they confront an unprecedented range of challenges, from gun violence to climate change, and offers a glimpse of what it means to be on the cusp of adulthood in America today.
SEVENTEEN features a libretto of verbatim text from interviews with young activists. The four-movement piece speaks powerfully to their generation’s spirit and determination.
“Seventeen was that age where we were realizing… we have to start doing something about this.”
Photo by Julia Walker
As communities across the country seek opportunities to bridge fractious divides, we recall Leonard Bernstein’s guidance for healing after the assassination of John F. Kennedy…
“To make music more intensely, more beautifully, more devotedly than ever before.”
In that tradition, we offer SEVENTEEN as a cultural experience, uniting this rising generation with concert audiences, inviting them to consider how we can move together towards a positive future.
“I used to think art was dumb and had no real purpose, only to realize over the past five years art and storytelling are the two most powerful things humanity has ever created.”
— David Hogg, activist, on Twitter, 9-18-22