The Declaration Project, created by American pianist and NPR personality Lara Downes, is an invitation across the nation to explore and express our vision of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, imagining the next chapter of our American story.

For this musical conversation, Downes will be joined by Jill Lepore, professor of history and law at Harvard and a staff writer at The New Yorker whose recent books include We the People: A History of the U.S. Constitution and These Truths: A History of the United States.

Downes and Lepore will explore the past, present, and future of American democracy as expressed through its music, beginning with the song "My Days Have Been So Wondrous and Free" written in 1759 by founding father Francis Hopkinson. This conversation will be recorded and broadcast as part of NPR's America in Pursuit series.

In the weeks leading up to the event, Downes will engage the Brattleboro community in reflecting on the ideals of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, celebrating our shared humanity and the power of civic engagement, and inspiring a collective future rooted in the founding principles of our democracy.

The Declaration Project is a non-partisan, unbiased initiative meant to promote empathy, community, and unity.

All proceeds from this event go to support Vermont Public.

General admission doors open at 6:15 p.m. and the event begins at 7 p.m. A limited number of tickets are available for a pre-event meet and greet with Lara Downes and Jill Lepore starting at 5:30 p.m. See below for ticket purchases.

Lara Downes is a Yamaha artist.