FOrgiveness
ALBANY SYMPHONY, DAVID ALAN MILLER, MARC BAMUTHI JOSEPH
FOR YOUR
GRAMMY® CONSIDERATION
Best Spoken Word Poetry Album
Best Contemporary Classical Composition
Forgiveness by Daniel Bernard Roumain (DBR)
Best Engineered Album, Classical
Marlan Barry
ABOUT
LISTEN
Forgiveness is a powerful new orchestral work by composer Daniel Bernard Roumain (DBR) and librettist Marc Bamuthi Joseph, performed by the Albany Symphony under David Alan Miller. Framed as a four-part meditation: Redemption, Reconciliation, Discernment, and Grace, the piece explores forgiveness as both a personal and political act. Roumain’s score blends symphonic sweep with moments of intimacy and silence, offering space for Joseph’s searing spoken-word reflections on race, justice, and democracy. Together, they ask: Can our country survive without forgiveness?
From the artists:
Photo Credit: Bethanie Hines
“As a child of immigrants, I have a deep respect for the lengths a human will go in order to be free. My American journey is rooted in the pursuit of an equitable cultural horizon, and the pathway to get there is undergirded by a road paved with the promise of democracy. Can that democracy survive, if we cannot forgive? This suite asks that question at symphonic scale in a way that honors both the progenitors and the inheritors of the American promise.”
-Marc Bamuthi Joseph
“I’ve been collaborating with Marc Bamuthi Joseph—writer, director, poet, and spoken word artist—for over 15 years, creating works centered on protest, morality, freedom, and justice. As friends, fathers, and Black artists, we’ve long considered the power and responsibility of expressing ourselves fully. This piece explores forgiveness as a shared journey, one shaped by age, race, and rage, and framed through Marc’s four-part meditation—Redemption, Reconciliation, Discernment, and Grace. My music responds to his words as commentary, crowd, and chorus, engaging with the orchestra as a collective voice and a quiet listener. In one of my favorite moments, as the music fades, Marc offers, “Steps to grace…Face the hurt…Unthread the truth…Choose mercy.” As a Black male composer, carrying both privilege and precarity, I move toward forgiveness through my work, hoping this piece affirms the breadth, complexity, and boundless spirit of Black classical music.”
-Daniel Bernard Roumain (DBR)
