The event features a programme of twentieth- and twenty-first-century American music, performed by the Edinburgh Festival Chorus alongside the festival's Rising Stars. The evening draws together works by Samuel Barber and Aaron Copland, whose lyrical hymns sit alongside Gabriela Lena Frank's politically charged piece ¡Chicanofóbia! and Joel Thompson's choral work, which forms the centrepiece of the concert. This performance reflects the festival's broad ambition, pairing contemplative, melodic passages with sharp contemporary commentary.

The programme includes works by several contemporary composers, including Nico Muhly, Caroline Shaw, and Jeffery Ames. The evening's centrepiece is Joel Thompson's Seven Last Words of the Unarmed, settings of the final words of seven unarmed Black men before they were killed. This is accompanied by Reena Esmail's When the Violin, a wordless response of sorrow.

The event takes place at the Usher Hall in Edinburgh on Thursday 13 August 2026. The performance will be a fully immersive experience, with the option to relax in a beanbag.

Details written from the information supplied by the event organiser.