On Tour

Lara Downes

Classical

The next Lara Downes concert is scheduled for Friday, May 23, 2025 at Marian Anderson Hall in Philadelphia, PA, United States. See all 3 upcoming concerts

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Top Songs By Lara Downes

Facing ForwardLara Downes

Little LoveLara Downes

Study in Blue (Arr. Edmar Colón) [Bonus Track]Edmar Colón & Lara Downes

LullabyLara Downes

America (Arr. for Piano by Noah Luna)Lara Downes

900 Miles (Arr. for Piano & Banjo by Jeremy Siskind)Dave McKeon & Lara Downes

Listen to Lullaby (Goodnight, My Angel) by Lara Downes, see lyrics, music video & more!

Lullaby (Goodnight, My Angel)Lara Downes

Listen to Chrysalis by Sophia Bacelar & Lara Downes, see lyrics, music video & more!

ChrysalisSophia Bacelar & Lara Downes

Rhapsody in Blue (Arr. Edmar Colón)Edmar Colón, Edwin Outwater, Lara Downes, SFCM Orchestra, Jeriel Sanjurjo, John Santos & Great Wall Chinese Orchestra

Listen to Aghavni (Doves) by Lara Downes, see lyrics, music video & more!

Aghavni (Doves)Lara Downes

Upcoming Concerts for Lara Downes

Latest Release

ALBUMMargaret Bonds: Credo: No. 5, I Believe in the Prince of Peace - SingleLara Downes, Los Angeles Master Chorale & Grant Gershon

More albums from Lara Downes

ALBUMThis LandLara Downes

ALBUMRhapsody in Blue ReimaginedLara Downes, Edwin Outwater, SFCM Orchestra, Edmar Colón, Jeriel Sanjurjo, John Santos & Great Wall Chinese Orchestra

ALBUMLove at LastLara Downes

ALBUMREFLECTIONS: Scott Joplin ReconsideredLara Downes

ALBUMNew Day BegunLara Downes

Listen to Phenomenal Women by Lara Downes & Nicole Cabell

ALBUMPhenomenal WomenLara Downes & Nicole Cabell

Listen to The Bedtime Sessions by Lara Downes

ALBUMThe Bedtime SessionsLara Downes

Listen to Some of These Days by Lara Downes

ALBUMSome of These DaysLara Downes

Listen to Florence Price Piano Discoveries by Lara Downes

ALBUMFlorence Price Piano DiscoveriesLara Downes

Listen to For Love of You by Lara Downes, Martin West & San Francisco Ballet Orchestra

ALBUMFor Love of YouLara Downes, Martin West & San Francisco Ballet Orchestra

Listen to Holes in the Sky by Lara Downes

ALBUMHoles in the SkyLara Downes

ALBUMFor LennyLara Downes

ALBUMAmerica AgainLara Downes

Listen to A Billie Holiday Songbook by Lara Downes

ALBUMA Billie Holiday SongbookLara Downes

Listen to Some Other Time by Zuill Bailey & Lara Downes

ALBUMSome Other TimeZuill Bailey & Lara Downes

ALBUMExiles' CafeLara Downes

Listen to 13 Ways of Looking At the Goldberg (Bach Reimagined) by Lara Downes

ALBUM13 Ways of Looking At the Goldberg (Bach Reimagined)Lara Downes

Listen to Nocturnes for Night Owls: Classical Treasures for Sweet Dreams by Lara Downes

ALBUMNocturnes for Night Owls: Classical Treasures for Sweet DreamsLara Downes

ALBUMDream of MeLara Downes

Listen to Lara Downes: American Ballads by Lara Downes

ALBUMLara Downes: American BalladsLara Downes

Listen to Invitation to the Dance by Lara Downes

ALBUMInvitation to the DanceLara Downes

Lara Downes's Popular Music Videos

Lara Downes & Rhiannon Giddens

Ellis Island

Lara Downes & Simone Dinnerstein

Artist Playlists

Lara Downes: Love/Life

The pianist celebrates the power of music to express love in its many forms.

About Lara Downes

Artist Biography

In addition to her reputation as one of the great concert pianists of the early 21st century, Lara Downes is known for being a daring curator, often aiming to subvert received wisdom about music history through unusual juxtapositions of material. Downes was born in 1973 to a Jamaican father and a Jewish mother of Russian descent, and she has cited her upbringing as part of the inspiration for her eclectic musical palette. After spending her formative years studying piano at top music schools throughout Europe—she'd started playing at the age of four—she returned to her hometown of San Francisco and began her performing career in earnest in the 2000s. Featuring experiments with jazz and pop as well as classical, her conceptually rich discography is dominated by left-of-center tribute albums exploring the legacy of figures as varied as Leonard Bernstein, Billie Holliday, and Scott Joplin. On one of her most acclaimed releases, 2016’s America Again, she elides jazz-influenced classical music with jazz and spirituals, incorporating disparate elements of the American musical vernacular in unexpected ways. In the 2010s and 2020s, Downes expanded her ongoing mission to highlight the music of Black and female composers in her work as a radio host, video series creator, label head (at Rising Sun Music), and essayist.

Hometown

San Francisco, United States of America

Genre

Classical