Joyce DiDonato

Mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato is collaborating with Princeton University Concerts and University Musical Society (University of Michigan) on “Sing for Today,” a series of short videos in which the opera star uses song as a lens through which to navigate current events and global concerns.

The first episode, available for free viewing at princetonuniversityconcerts.org and ums.org/singfortoday, taps into the energy of the 2020 General Election. In response to images of long early-voter lines across the country, DiDonato sings “This Land is Your Land” accompanied by guitarist Àlex Garrobéin in tribute to the voters. She then frames the song in conversation with Hamilton lead producer Jeffrey Seller, and with students Kai Tsurumaki (Princeton Class of 2023) and Saika Islam (University of Michigan Class of 2021) — members of the Poll Hero Project, dedicated to recruiting young people across the country to be poll workers.

Future episodes of “Sing For Today” will feature DiDonato singing and in dialogue with people from a variety of different backgrounds.

The winner of multiple Grammys and the 2018 Olivier Award, the Kansas-born mezzo-soprano is an advocate for the transformative power of the arts, and has taken music to educational institutions, refugee camps, and maximum-security prisons. “Music heals,” she has said, “and it can fire people up with purpose and courage to change the world.”

Poll Hero Project recruited thousands of college and high school students to be paid poll workers for the 2020 election. The initiative was founded by a group of Princeton University students including Tsurumaki, Denver East High School students, and a University of Chicago Booth School of Business graduate who care deeply about democracy and non-partisanship. For more information, visit pollhero.org.