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DAVÓNE TINES AND RUCKUS BRING WHAT IS YOUR HAND IN THIS? TO TEN U.S. CITIES, JANUARY 28 – FEBRUARY 10, 2026

Tour cities include Washington, Philadelphia, New York, Boston, Richmond, 

Santa Barbara, Portland, San Francisco, Tucson, and Pittsburgh

NEW YORK (November 18, 2025) — Bass-baritone Davóne Tines, recognized internationally for his expansive approach to performance, uniting music, history, and social inquiry, and the early music ensemble Ruckus, a collective of early-music virtuosos redefining what a Baroque band can be, bring their bold new program What is Your Hand in This? to ten cities across the United States this winter. 


Conceived by Douglas Adam August Balliett, Davóne Tines, and Clay Zeller-Townson, to mark the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, What is Your Hand in This? resists simple celebration. Instead, it asks audiences to confront the complexity of America’s founding and to reflect on their own role in its ongoing story. Time-traveling through four centuries of reimagined songs, hymns, and ballads, including newly commissioned works and arrangements by Tines and Balliett, the program delivers an illuminating exploration of America’s revolutionary music.

“Our hope is to invite people to the idea that there’s nothing wrong with this country that can’t be transformed by what’s right in this country.”

— Davóne Tines

The tour launches in Washington, DC, on January 28, 2026, at Sixth & I, followed by performances in Philadelphia at the Episcopal Cathedral (January 29), New York at Zankel Hall (January 30), and Boston at Sanders Theater (January 31). The ensemble continues to Richmond’s Camp Concert Hall on February 1 before heading west to Hahn Hall in Santa Barbara (February 3), the Patricia Reser Center for the Arts in Portland, OR (February 5), the Herbst Theater in San Francisco (February 7), and Grace St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Tucson (February 8). The tour concludes on February 10 at the August Wilson African American Cultural Center in Pittsburgh.


The program weaves movements from Balliett’s Compassion Preludes—including “The Despised One,” “The Four F’s,” “Overture,” “Federal Nations,” “Holy Word,” and “Nunc Dimittis”—interspersed as reflective milestones throughout. Alongside these new works are Stephen Foster’s Beautiful Dreamer; Handel’s “Musette” from the Concerto in G Minor, op. 6, and “Why Do the Nations So Furiously Rage” from Messiah; Joshua McCarter Simpson’s A Note to the Public and To the White People of America; John Dickinson’s The Liberty Song; Benjamin Carr’s The Federal Overture; William Billings’s Chester; George W. Clark’s What Mean Ye?; Julius Eastman’s Buddha; Clyde Otis’s This Bitter Earth and Earl Robinson and Lewis Allen’s The House I Live In (both arranged by Tines and Balliett); and Sam Cooke’s A Change Is Gonna Come (arr. Balliett). Traditional hymns, including Jesus, Lover of My Soul and its reprise Be the Lover of My Soul (arr. Tines), frame the evening, while Tines and Balliett’s new collaboration What Is My Hand in This? serves as a centerpiece. Together, these works form a musical reflection on American ideals and contradictions, refracted through centuries of struggle, belief, and renewal.


As the creators explain, “The 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence demands we acknowledge that the quest for a better world continues through the present moment. How can this fragile American experiment hold? How can we passionately call out the wrongs we see, while living together as a people? Can we find compassion for others? Can you find compassion for yourself?”


Performing alongside Tines are the members of Ruckus: violinists Keir GoGwilt and Shelby Yamin, violist Manami Mizumoto, Paul Holmes Morton on guitars, Elliot Figg on keyboards, Douglas Adam August Balliett on bass, and Clay Zeller-Townson on bassoon, english horn, and percussion. Ruckus performs without a conductor, blending traditional instruments with synthesizer and electric bass in a highly improvisational, collaborative style that treats the music itself as another voice in the conversation.


What is Your Hand in This? juxtaposes centuries, styles, and traditions to ask audiences to reflect on history and the present moment. More than a display of talent or virtuosity, the program is designed as a communal experience, inviting the audience to consider the ongoing project of American identity and the personal responsibility each of us carries in shaping it.

ABOUT DAVÓNE TINES



Heralded by The New Yorker as “one of the most spellbinding singers before the public today,” Davóne Tines is a pathbreaking artist whose work encompasses a diverse repertoire, ranging from early music to new commissions by leading composers, while exploring the social issues of today. A Grammy-nominated creator, curator, and performer at the intersection of many histories, cultures, and aesthetics, he is engaged in work that blends opera, art song, spirituals, contemporary classical, gospel, and protest songs as a means to tell a deeply personal story of perseverance connecting to all of humanity. Tines is an artist who takes full agency of his work, often devising new programs and pieces from conception to performance. He has premiered numerous operas by today’s leading composers, including John Adams, Terence Blanchard, and Matthew Aucoin; and his concert appearances include performances of works ranging from Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony to Kaija Saariaho’s True Fire. He made his Metropolitan Opera debut in 2024 performing in John Adams’ El Niño. His first studio album, ROBESOИ, released on Nonesuch Records, also in 2024, explores his connection to legendary American baritone Paul Robeson, reimagining the music Robeson famously sang. Tines is the recipient of the prestigious 2025 Harvard Arts Medal, a 2024 Chanel Next Prize, Musical America’s 2022 Vocalist of the Year Award, the 2020 Sphinx Medal of Excellence, and the 2018 Emerging Artists Award from Lincoln Center. He is a graduate of The Juilliard School and Harvard University.

ABOUT RUCKUS



Ruckus is a shapeshifting, collaborative Baroque ensemble with a visceral and playful approach to early music. Described by San Francisco Classical Voice as “the world’s only period-instrument rock band,” the NYC-based group is built around a continuo core—the Baroque equivalent of a jazz rhythm section—featuring guitars, keyboards, cello, bassoon, and bass. Ruckus fuses the early-music movement’s exploratory spirit with the grit, groove, and jangle of American roots music, creating a sound hailed by The New Yorker as “rough-edged intensity” and by The New York Times as “achingly delicate one moment, incisive and punchy the next.” Its members are among North America’s most virtuosic early-music performers. The ensemble serves as house band for Hudson Hall’s Baroque opera productions, directed by R.B. Schlather, with their next project being Handel’s final opera, Deidamia. In spring 2025, Ruckus released The Edinburgh Rollick, featuring violinist Keir GoGwilt, which brings new life to the tunes of 18th-century Scottish composer Neil Gow and will appear in NYC in January 2026 at Music Before 1800. Their debut album, Fly the Coop, a collaboration with flutist Emi Ferguson, reached #2 on Billboard’s Classical chart.

What is Your Hand in This?

U.S. Tour 

January 28 - February 10, 2026



Davóne Tines, bass-baritone

Ruckus:

Keir GoGwilt, violin

Shelby Yamin, violin

Manami Mizumoto, viola

Paul Holmes Morton, guitars

Elliot Figg, keyboards

Douglas Adam August Balliett, bass, arrangements, and compositions

Clay Zeller-Townson, bassoon, english horn, percussion, and research


STEPHEN FOSTER Beautiful Dreamer (1864)

GEORG FRIEDRICH HANDEL “Musette” from Concerto in G Minor, op. 6 (1741)

DOUGLAS ADAM AUGUST BALLIETT “The Despised One” from Compassion Preludes (2025)

DOUGLAS ADAM AUGUST BALLIETT “The Four F’s” from Compassion Preludes (2025)

TRADITIONAL (arr. Tines) Jesus Lover of My SoulTines Be the Lover of My Soul (2025)


JOSHUA McCARTER SIMPSON A Note to the Public (1854)

JOSHUA McCARTER SIMPSON To The White People of America (1854)

GEORG FRIEDRICH HANDEL March (1738)

DOUGLAS ADAM AUGUST BALLIETT “Overture” from Compassion Preludes (2025)

JOHN DICKINSON (arr. Balliett) The Liberty Song (1768) 

DOUGLAS ADAM AUGUST BALLIETT Federal Nations (2025)

BENJAMIN CARR The Federal Overture (1793)

GEORG FRIEDRICH HANDEL “Why do the Nations so Furiously Rage” from Messiah (1741)


JULIUS EASTMAN Buddha (1983)

CLYDE OTIS (arr. Tines & Balliett) This Bitter Earth (1960)

GEORGE W. CLARK What Mean Ye? (1845)

EARL ROBINSON/LEWIS ALLEN (arr. Tines & Balliett) The House I Live In (1942)


DOUGLAS ADAM AUGUST BALLIETT “Holy Word” from Compassion Preludes (2025)

DAVÓNE TINES (arr. Balliett) What is My Hand in This? (2025)

WILLIAM BILLINGS Chester (1778)

SAM COOKE (arr. Balliett) A Change is Gonna Come (1964)

DOUGLAS ADAM AUGUST BALLIETT “Nunc Dimittis” from Compassion Preludes (2025)

TRADITIONAL (arr. Tines) Be the Lover of My Soul (Reprise)


Program conceived by Douglas Adam August Balliett, Davóne Tines, and Clay Zeller-Townson.


Developed by Ruckus Early Music. 


Commissioned by Carnegie Hall and Hudson Hall with support from the New York State Council of the Arts. Special thanks to Marta Miller & Carolyn Brooks.


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