“Copland’s music pairs perfectly with the folksy, winking tone of Twain’s prose.”
-Musical America
COPLAND & TWAIN
This new concert comedy fuses Aaron Copland’s stirring incidental music with Mark Twain’s poignant observations of a changing America.
Full orchestra version features James Lee III’s Freedom’s Genuine Dawn, with the words of Frederick Douglass.
“Hilarious, warm-hearted,
a magnificent tribute,
utterly delightful…”
Read more press below.
“A tour de force.”
-Shepherd Express
Music
COPLAND Music for Movies and Music for Theatre freshly adapted with actors
JAMES LEE III Freedom’s Genuine Dawn (with text by Frederick Douglass)
JOAN TOWER Fanfare for the Uncommon Woman
COPLAND The Promise of Living, from The Tender Land Suite
Video by S. Katy Tucker
Costumes by Arthur Oliver
Music
Aaron Copland
James Lee III
Written and Directed by
Bill Barclay
Five Actors
Costumes, Lights, and Furniture
Two versions:
Full Orchestra
Chamber Orchestra
Part I: one hour
Part II (optional):
45 minutes
“Through an artful mingling of the words of Mark Twain, the music of Aaron Copland, and a montage of photographic images of our past, Bill Barclay has crafted a magnificent tribute to the American spirit. This show is hilarious, warm-hearted, and inspiring without ever being in the least corny. An utterly delightful experience.”
-Ron Chernow, Pulitzer Prize-winning author (Mark Twain, Alexander Hamilton)
Press
“Copland’s music was perfectly selected to underline and bracket Twain’s words, together celebrating the American experience while refusing to shy away from our darker side. It was an evening full of laughter, but sadness too…
“It is hard to imagine a better or more enjoyable tribute for America’s anniversary.”
“How do you offer a message that’s celebratory while also honest about the darker currents?
“Well, I’m pleased to report that the Milwaukee Symphony walked this tightrope perfectly. The program Copland & Twain: America 250 was a tour de force that took risks and managed to be both funny and moving.”
-Shepherd Express, Milwaukee
“Twain’s political satire abounds, some of it so uncannily prescient that one could’ve sworn the bon mots were penned this year…”
Will America grow from its wounds
to develop a deeper love for our neighbors?
Or will we let our scars tear us asunder?
Text
Mark Twain’s Diaries of Adam and Eve form a through-line amidst observations from dozens of apocryphal stories, speeches, and articles from America’s greatest humorist, assembled by Bill Barclay.
America’s first celebrity and its Dean of American Music combine to soothe the polarizing questions vexing our body politic today with majesty, humor, tolerance – and wisdom.
Featuring actors Carson Elrod, Maurice Emmanuel Parent, Chloe McFarlane, Caleb Mayo, and Robert Walsh.
World Premiere: Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, 2026
NYC Premiere: Chelsea Music Festival, Open Jar, June 25, 2026
Photography by Valerie Hill and Jonathan Kirn
