Davóne Tines, Bass-Baritone Ruckus

Intrepid early music band Ruckus and pathbreaking singer Davóne Tines deliver the powerful bite of American revolutionary music, time-traveling through four centuries of songs, hymns, ballads, and new co-commissioned works by Tines and Doug Balliett. It’s an ideal meeting of artistic sensibilities, as Tines—whose eye-opening programming and vulnerable performances are “redefining the rules and rituals of classical music” (San Francisco Classical Voice)—meets the visceral might of Ruckus, known for combining a baroque band’s questing spirit with the grit, groove, and jangle of American roots music as “the world’s only period instrument rock band” (San Francisco Chronicle). As we reflect on the Declaration of Independence’s 250th anniversary, this program asks: “How can this fragile American experiment hold? Can we find compassion for others? Can you find compassion for yourself?”