presented by
The Capital Hearings

Saturday, October 25, 2025
LIVE at 10th & G







Skip to Act 2 (post-intermission)

KEEP the FAITH

O Sister,

Hey Brother

2014

arr. Rachel Rood and Mike Rowan for The Capital Hearings
includes “Down in the River to Pray” (19th century spiritual)
and “Hey Brother” by Avicii (2013)
Sam Scarrow and Mariah Lancaster, soloists

  • The “Hey Brother” lead vocalist, Dan Tyminski, is also a member of Alison Krauss’s band Union Station - and a distinctive voice in the film O Brother, Where Art Thou? that popularized Krauss and “Down in the River to Pray.” Tyminski provides another connection from the 19th-century folk song – possibly a spiritual written by a slave – to Avicii’s 2013 mega-hit and music video that portray war’s effects on families. In the context of this arrangement bridging eras and genres, we seek answers to the heart-pounding questions this song poses, particularly around the relationship between faith, family, and country.

  • As I went down in the river to pray
    Studying about that good old way
    And who shall wear the starry crown
    Good Lord, show me the way!
    O sisters, let's go down,
    Let's go down, come on down
    O sisters, let's go down
    Down in the river to pray

    ***

    Hey brother! There's an endless road to rediscover
    Hey sister! Know the water's sweet but blood is thicker
    Oh, if the sky comes falling down, for you
    There's nothing in this world I wouldn't do

    Hey brother! Do you still believe in one another?
    Hey sister! Do you still believe in love? I wonder
    Oh, if the sky comes falling down, for you
    There's nothing in this world I wouldn't do
    What if I'm far from home?
    Oh brother, I will hear you call!
    What if I lose it all?
    Oh sister, I will help you out!
    Oh, if the sky comes falling down, for you
    There’s nothing in this world I wouldn’t do

speak

2025 | World Premiere

Shane Scott Cook
Winner of our 2025 Young Composers Competition

  • Each day, it seems there are new attacks from those in power on different groups of people—stripping rights, denying access, and making this country increasingly inhospitable for so many. I wrote speak as a reminder to myself, and everyone else, that even acknowledging and speaking out against these injustices can help move society in a positive direction. Musically, the piece incorporates textures meant to feel mesmerizing and overwhelming, symbolizing the constant flood of information from social media and the news.

    - Shane Scott Cook, composer | Learn more about this year’s Young Composer Competition Winner

  • speak
    stand
    say:

    what is right
    what is wrong
    what is

Gesher

2019

Yosef Goldman
arr. Micah Hendler
Micah Hendler, soloist

  • "Gesher" means "bridge" in Hebrew, and this haunting setting by my friend and musical collaborator Yosef Goldman takes its text from a teaching by Rabbi Nachman of Breslov: "The whole world is a very narrow bridge, and the essential thing is not to be afraid at all."

    These words were written centuries ago, yet they speak directly to our present moment. We live in times that feel precarious—politically, socially, morally. The ground beneath us often seems less like solid earth and more like a narrow bridge suspended over deep chasms of extremism, division, and uncertainty. One misstep, we fear, and we could fall.

    Rabbi Nachman's wisdom doesn't deny the danger. He acknowledges that the bridge is narrow—the path forward is treacherous. But his teaching focuses not on the peril below, but on what we must do to cross: we must not let fear paralyze us. We must keep moving forward.

    Goldman's musical setting captures both the vertigo of our precarious position and the quiet courage required to take the next step. The melody wavers and reaches, much like our own faltering faith, yet it persists. It reminds us that faith is not the absence of fear—it's the choice to move forward despite it.

    In singing this together, we acknowledge our shared fear and our shared determination. We are all crossing the same narrow bridge. And perhaps, in recognizing that we cross it together, the bridge feels a little wider, our footing a little more sure.

    - Micah Hendler, tenor

  • כָּל הָעוֹלָם כֻּלּוֹ
    גֶּשֶׁר צַר מְאוֹד
    כָּל הָעוֹלָם הוּא גֶּשֶׁר צַר

    וְהָעִקָּר, וְהָעִקָּר
    לֹא לְפַחֵד כְּלָל
    לֹא לְפַחֵד

    (The whole entire world
    Is a very narrow bridge
    The whole world is a narrow bridge

    The main thing is
    Don't be afraid
    Do not fear)

    As I walk along this very narrow bridge,
    I will not be afraid knowing You are with me.
    As I walk across this very narrow bridge,
    I will not fear knowing You are near.

Death

is the Mother of Beauty

2025 | World Premiere

Andrew Ross 
Micah Hendler, Charlie Ibsen, Karalyn Joseph, and Andrew Ross, chamber ensemble

  • Does keeping the faith mean anything without doubt? In his 1915 poem Sunday Morning, Wallace Stevens explores his agnostic relationship with religion and his devout Lutheran mother. In the sixth stanza, Stevens grapples with the idea of heaven, and whether any vision of an afterlife could be beautiful without change, or indeed without death. He then proceeds to the rather astounding statement that “death is the mother of beauty” – that the poignancy and meaning of life is intimately tied to its impermanence. Does life mean anything without death?


    For me, this piece is meant to explore this aspect of beauty, as well as feelings that emerge from differences of faith between loved ones – and differences between what we intellectually think and what we viscerally feel.

    - Andrew Ross, bass

  • Is there no change of death in paradise?
    Does ripe fruit never fall? Or do the boughs
    Hang always heavy in that perfect sky,
    Unchanging, yet so like our perishing earth,
    With rivers like our own that seek for seas
    They never find, the same receding shores
    That never touch with inarticulate pang?
    Why set the pear upon those river-banks
    Or spice the shores with odors of the plum?
    Alas, that they should wear our colors there,
    The silken weavings of our afternoons,
    And pick the strings of our insipid lutes!
    Death is the mother of beauty, mystical,
    Within whose burning bosom we devise
    Our earthly mothers waiting, sleeplessly.

Rainbow Connection

1979

K. Ascher, Paul Williams
arr. Charlie Ibsen, for The Capital Hearings

  • In arranging this, my aim was to capture the hope which Kermit’s original rendition supplies through its refrain: “someday we’ll find it”. Echoed by the harmonic texture, that hope begins as almost nothing, but over the course of the song, grows and gains confidence to defy all attempts to dash it. Along the way, snippets of some older “songs about rainbows” remind us that looking to the skies for hope and inspiration has long been a part of us. Splitting up the solo among the ensemble achieves an extra meaning for me: a family seeking to heal itself, speaking from different perspectives and ages, and not knowing which road to take — but hoping that at the end of it lies that cosmic connection. “Someday we’ll find it.” 

    - Charlie Ibsen, tenor

  • Why are there so many songs about rainbows?
    And what's on the other side?
    Rainbows are visions, but only illusions
    And rainbows have nothing to hide

    So we've been told and some choose to believe it
    I know they're wrong, wait and see
    Someday we'll find it, the rainbow connection
    The lovers, the dreamers and me.

    Who said that every wish would be heard and answered
    When wished on the morning star
    Somebody thought of that, and someone believed it
    Look what it's done so far

    What's so amazing that keeps us stargazing?
    And what do we think we might see?
    Someday we'll find it, the rainbow connection
    The lovers, the dreamers and me
    All of us under its spell
    We know that it's probably magic…

    Have you been half asleep, and have you heard voices?
    I've heard them calling my name
    Is this the sweet sound that calls the young sailors?
    The voice might be one and the same

    I've heard it too many times to ignore it
    It's something that I'm supposed to be
    Someday we'll find it, the rainbow connection
    The lovers, the dreamers and me!

Vande Mataram

1896

opb Rabindranath Tagore, Mohan Sisters, Lata Mangeshkar, A.R. Rahman
arr. Ramya Prabhakar for The Capital Hearings
Ramya Prabhakar, soloist

  • “Vande Mataram”—directly translated to “Mother (India), I bow to thee”—is an anthem of the Indian independence movement to overthrow the British Raj, which culminated in Indian independence in 1947. The lyrics come from a poem published in 1882 by Bengali poet Bankim Chandra Chatterjee, before being set to music and debuted at the Indian National Congress by Rabindranath Tagore in 1896. As the independence movement picked up steam throughout the 1900s, the song and the phrase became a rallying cry for Indian freedom fighters and was a favorite of Mahatma Gandhi. In 1950, just three years after the birth of the new nation, it became the national song of India, and is still beloved by Indians across the world.

    Vande Mataram has evolved significantly, in melody and style, throughout India’s history. Tagore’s version, debuted in 1896, is almost unrecognizable when compared to the popular version, set in the raga Desh, that countless Indian students learned in school. And several prominent Indian artists have covered and reimagined the song, including Lata Mangeshkar in 1952, and A.R. Rahman in 1997. This arrangement combines many of these well-known versions, mapping the evolution of the song over a century, from 50 years before Indian independence to 50 years after. It begins with the Tagore version, then introduces the popular and most well-known melody, and then pays homage to the renditions performed by some of India’s musical treasures. Just as each generation has reimagined the song, so too have they reimagined the idea of Mother India—what she represents and what she inspires. And despite the unique challenges that have defined each era of Indian history—from colonialism to Partition to classism to religious fundamentalism—the idea and promise of Mother India continues to unite Indians across faith and region and caste, and helps them keep the faith in justice, equality, and freedom for all.

    - Ramya Prabhakar, alto

  • (Tagore version):
    Vande mataram

    (Popular version):
    Vande Mataram
    sujalaam suphalaam
    malayaja sheetalam
    shasya shyaamalaam
    mataram
    Vande mataram

    Shubhrajyothsna pulakithayaamineem
    phullakusumita
    drumadala shobhineem
    suhaasineem
    sumadhura bhaashineem
    sukhadaam varadaam
    maataram
    Vande mataram

    (Lata Mangeshkar version)
    vande mataram

    (Mohan Sisters version)
    Ehsaas thoDa tho jagaayen
    Apne dilon mein hum
    (vande mataram)

    kyaa naam apnaa hai jahaan mein
    khaDe hain kahaan pe hum
    (vande mataram)
    hai humein jaanaa kahaan aur
    chalen hain kahaan pe hum
    humse poochhe ye baata re vatan
    (vande mataram)

    (AR Rahman version)
    maa tujhe salaam
    vande mataram

    —

    English Translation

    (Tagore version):
    I praise thee, motherland

    (popular version):
    I praise thee, motherland
    Richly watered, richly fruited
    Cool with the winds of the south
    Dark with the crops’ green, mother
    I praise thee, motherland

    Her nights rejoicing in the radiance of the moonlight
    Her land bright with blossoming trees and waving leaves
    Smiling sweetly
    speaking gently
    The giver of bliss, the giver of boons, mother
    I praise thee, motherland

    (Lata Mangeshkar version)
    I praise thee, motherland

    (Mohan Sisters version)
    Let us awaken a little feeling in our hearts,
    I praise thee, Motherland.

    What is our name in this world, 
    Where do we stand?
    (I praise thee, motherland)
    Where must we go, and where are we heading?
    O Motherland, these questions you ask of us—
    (I praise thee, motherland)

    (AR Rahman version)
    Mother, I salute you
    I praise thee, motherland

When You Believe

1998

Stephen Schwartz
arr. Ramya Prabhakar and Mariah Lancaster for The Capital Hearings
Regina Dagenhardt, Rachel Gonsenhauser, Heather MacDonald, and Sophie Polon, soloists

  • Stephen Schwartz won the Academy Award for Best Original Song for ‘When You Believe,’ composed for The Prince of Egypt (1998). The movie chronicles Exodus—the story of Moses and his fight to lead the Hebrew people to freedom. 

    The song features solos from Miriam, Moses’s sister, and Tzipporah, Moses’s wife, as they lead the Hebrew people toward the Red Sea on their Exodus from Egypt. The bridge features paraphrased Hebrew excerpts of the ‘Song of the Sea’ from the Exodus, celebrating hard-won freedom after generations of slavery and oppression. A hymn of hope, ‘When You Believe’ reminds us that anything is possible with faith—and that a belief in something better can help us persevere through life’s hardest struggles. Even in the darkest of times, we can believe in, and strive for, a brighter future.

    - Mariah Lancaster, alto and Ramya Prabhakar, alto 

  • Many nights we've prayed
    With no proof anyone could hear
    In our hearts a hopeful song we barely understood
    Now we are not afraid
    Although we know there's much to fear
    We were moving mountains long before we knew we could

    CHORUS
    There can be miracles when you believe
    Though hope is frail, it's hard to kill
    Who knows what miracles you can achieve
    When you believe, somehow you will
    You will when you believe

    In this time of fear 
    when prayer so often proved in vain
    Hope seemed like the summer birds
    too swiftly flown away
    Yet now I'm standing here
    With heart so full I can't explain
    Seeking faith and speaking words 
    I never thought I'd say

    CHORUS

    BRIDGE (Hebrew)
    Ashira l’Adonai ki ga’oh ga’ah
    (I will sing unto Adonai for He has triumphed gloriously) 

    Ashira l’Adonai ki ga’oh ga’ah
    (I will sing to Adonai for He has triumphed gloriously) 

    Michamocha ba-elim Adonai
    (Who is like You, Adonai, among the celestials?) 

    Michamocha nedar-bakodesh
    (Who is like You, majestic in holiness?) 

    Nachitah v'chasd'cha, am zu ga’alta 
    (In Your mercy, You lead the people You redeemed) 

    Ashira, Ashira, Ashira…
    (I will sing, I will sing, I will sing…)

    CHORUS

Intermission

Please feel free to enjoy a few minutes outside while we reset for Act 2

On With The Show!

SPECIAL THANKS

This project was supported by the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities.