WINTER 2026
LISTEN WHEN THE ELDERS SPEAK
By MARTHA REDBONE and AARON WHITBY
A public showing of a powerful new musical in development, drawn from oral histories with Indigenous elders.
This project has received generous and foundational support from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Tow Foundation.
Meet the ARTISTS
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Martha Redbone is a vocalist/songwriter/composer/educator and one of today’s most vital voices in American Roots music. She is known for her unique gumbo of folk, blues and gospel from her childhood in Harlan County, Kentucky infused with the eclectic grit of pre-gentrified Brooklyn. Inheriting the powerful vocal range of her gospel-singing African American father and the resilient spirit of her mother’s Southeastern Cherokee/Choctaw culture, Redbone broadens the boundaries of American Roots music with songs and storytelling that share her life experience as an Indigenous Black woman and mother in the new millennium. Redbone, along with longtime collaborator Aaron Whitby are the Composers of original music and score, arrangers and orchestrators of the 2022 Broadway revival of “For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/ When the Rainbow is Enuff”, the 1976 classic choreopoem by the late Ntozake Shange, premiered at the Booth Theater and garnered 7 Tony award nominations.
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Aaron Whitby is a multi-award-winning record producer, composer, songwriter, pianist, engineer known for his work with an array of noteworthy artists, including George Clinton, Natalie Cole, Randy Brecker. Known for his work with his longtime collaborator/wife, Martha Redbone. Brainchild behind Cousin From Another Planet -a Jazz and Visual exploration project, receiving critical acclaim and accolades from the late music critic Greg Tate as “captivating, motivating...”. The Redbone/Whitby composer team works include Revelation by Flannery O’Connor, directed Karin Coonrod, Colombari, HUMAN directed by Nehprii Ameni, Stars -Privacy in the Digital Age in 5-Minute Plays, New York Theater Workshop.