About the piece

African-American singer Paul Robeson was born in Princeton, NJ in 1898. Despite experiencing severe racial discrimination and violence throughout his career, Robeson was elected valedictorian of his class at Rutgers College (after being the only African-American student there), was selected as an All-American football player, became a popular film actor (Show Boat), and starred on Broadway (Othello). In the 1920s and 1930s, he reached international fame as a bass-baritone concert artist, singing African-American spirituals to audiences around the world. Robeson used his voice to connect people, promote his musical heritage, and advocate for social causes he believed in, including labor rights, anti-colonialism, and racial equality. However, his enthusiastic support of the Soviet Union during the McCarthy era cost him both his freedom and his career. From 1950 to 1958, the U.S. government revoked his passport, blacklisted him from mainstream stages, and placed him under intense FBI surveillance, severely damaging his career and finances. Paul Robeson’s voice was shut down by a society that was too afraid of those who looked or thought differently. 

Here We Stand for two rapper-singers, choir, and orchestra brings the perspective of today to the story and legacy of Paul Robeson. Moments from Robeson’s life are intertwined with recent events in American history such as football player Colin Kaepernick‘s protest against police brutality in 2016 and the murder of George Floyd by a police officer in Minneapolis, MN in 2020. The non-chronological narrative is led by two characters–Paul Robeson and a fictional contemporary activist–in a fusion of concert music, hip hop, funk, and rock. 

Composer Gilad Cohen and lyricist/rapper Ronvé O’Daniel have been working on this piece since 2023. The world premiere of Here We Stand will take place at Richardson Auditorium in Princeton, NJ, less than half a mile from where Paul Robeson was born, in a concert honoring Robeson’s golden anniversary.

Here We Stand

For two rapper-singers, choir, and orchestra
Lyrics: Ronvé O'Daniel
Music: Gilad Cohen
Length: 25 minutes

Commissioned by American Composers Forum, Princeton University, and Adele and John Gray Endowment Fund with additional support from New Music USA and Ramapo College of New

World premiere at Paul Robeson Golden Anniversary Concert in Princeton, NJ, USA:

Sunday, February 21st 2027 at 4pm
Richardson Auditorium, 68 Nassau St, Princeton, NJ, USA

Paul-Jordan Jansen, bass-baritone, rap
Ronvé O'Daniel, rap, baritone
Princeotn Glee Club
Decoda Ensemble
Gabriel Crouch, conductor