String Quartet Biennale Amsterdam and De Doelen join forces to introduce the American bass-baritone.
Bass-baritone Davóne Tines is already a phenomenon in the USA. In the Netherlands we know Tines from opera productions such as Girls of the Golden West, Prisoner of the State and Only the Sound Remains, but he has recently also started his first series of solo recitals. The New York Times described this recital as “a compelling reconceptualization of the recital format from an artist who molded his warm, strong voice like clay in a bracingly vulnerable, honest performance .” The String Quartet Biennale and de Doelen are joining forces to launch this bass-baritone in the Netherlands.
‘Davóne Tines is changing what it means to be a classical singer’, headlined The New Yorker . In his performance MASS, the American bass-baritone plays with the conventions of classical music, and allows themes such as race and sexuality to play a role. Call his projects political, for Tines they are personal and existential. Contrasting spiritual music forms from Western European, African-American and 21st century traditions come together in MASS. Tines structures this concert as a Catholic mass, in which he brings together everything he grew up with: spirituals and gospel songs, Bach, Schubert, opera and newly composed music.
These concerts are the first in the Netherlands for Tines and are also among the first concerts in Europe with this recital.
On Friday 2nd February Tines will sing with the Calder Quartet – String Quartet Biennale Amsterdam and on 8th February at De Doelen in Rotterdam where he will perform the original version of MASS with Afro-Dominican pianist John Bitoy. The design and direction of the MASS program are in the hands of Lisenka Heijboer Castañón.
De Doelen already worked with Tines last year in their own co-production of David Lang’s Prisoner of the State.
