South Street Seaport Museum announces A Distant Love: Songs of John and Abigail Adams on Tuesday, June 30, 2026 at 6:30PM at 213 Water Street. Tickets are $50. Book at https://southstreetseaportmuseum.org/distant-love/.

In celebration of America’s 250th Anniversary and the South Street Seaport Museum’s landmark exhibition, The Promise of Liberty: Words That Shaped a Nation, join Knickerbocker Chamber Orchestra and the Seaport Museum for this historical libretto by Terry Quinn, music by Gary S. Fagin. The evening will focus on one of the most consequential and influential couples of the Colonial period during a time when our Nation’s fortunes hung in precarious balance.

This special performance, featuring soprano Elizabeth Dabney and baritone Thomas Meglioranza, accompanied by an ensemble from the Knickerbocker Chamber Orchestra, cover the 11-year period when, except for intermittent visits home, John Adams was abroad raising money for the American revolutionaries and Abigail Adams was tending their homestead. “A Distant Love” renders the flavor of this extraordinary couple’s time apart based on the extensive correspondence of these two “dearest friends;” their passions, hopes, doubts and anxieties; their complexities and half-hidden emotions; their most intimate thoughts.

Sign up today for what will be a very special, memorable musical-dramatic event celebrating the inspiring words and lives of Abigail and John Adams. Preregistration is encouraged. Walkups will be accommodated as possible. Before the program, from 6:30pm to 7:30pm, attendees are invited to explore The Promise of Liberty and view extraordinary foundational documents to American history including the Declaration of Independence, the United States Constitution, and the Bill of Rights. Exhibition admission is included with your event ticket.

Tickets will be distributed through Knickerbocker Chamber Orchestra. Visit their website here to get all the details and to sign up.

About the Cast

Elizabeth Dabney Hochman, soprano

Thomas Meglioranza, baritone

Karl Kawahara, violin; Tallie Brunfelt, violin; J. J. Johnson, viola; and Sarah Hewitt-Roth, violoncello; string quartet from The Knickerbocker Chamber Orchestra

Terry Quinn, librettist, has had four novels and a volume of poetry published. Seven of his plays have been produced in New York City, at regional theaters in the US, and in Paris, Bordeaux, Amsterdam, London, Mainz, and Frankfurt. He wrote the book, lyrics and score for two Off-Broadway music theater works, and the librettos for six operas produced in New York City and European venues, including the first segment of A Distant Love: Songs of John and Abigail Adams, which premiered at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam.

Gary Fagin, composer, is Music Director of New York City’s Knickerbocker Chamber Orchestra (KCO) and Conductor Emeritus of the Bucks County Symphony in Pennsylvania. He is composer of numerous instrumental and vocal works; the KCO has premiered over 20 of his compositions, including his latest, “Each and All––Singing of Democracy” in April of this year. Mr. Fagin was the first person to receive a Doctorate Degree in Conducting from Yale University; he is Founder and Director of The New York Conducting Studio.

About Knickerbocker Chamber Orchestra

Founded in 2008, the Knickerbocker Chamber Orchestra (KCO) brings outstanding orchestral and chamber music performances and educational programs to the downtown community, incorporating the area’s rich history into innovative presentations through collaboration with acclaimed soloists, choral, dance and literary organizations.

Past highlights of the KCO’s presentations include the world premiere at the World Financial Center Winter Garden of Mr. Fagin’s composition “And Bold to Fall Withal (Henry Hudson in The New World)”, featuring Broadway star Jason Danieley in 2010, and the 2011 world premiere of Mr. Fagin’s “Robert Moses Astride New York,” also at the Winter Garden, featuring Rinde Eckert. More recent highlights include the premiere of Mr. Fagin’s Juneteenth composition “Good Trouble” at the Museum of Jewish Heritage in 2022 and his “In Every Grain of Sand,” inspired by the works of Rachel Carson, celebrating Earth Day 2023 at the Winter Garden; and “Courage to Act,” in conjunction with the exhibit “Courage to Act: Rescue in Denmark” at the Museum of Jewish Heritage in 2024.

Acknowledgements

The Promise of Liberty: Words That Shaped a Nation and accompanying events are organized in cooperation with Sail4th 250 and made possible through the generous support of Citadel founder and CEO Kenneth C. Griffin and his civic engagement initiative Griffin Catalyst.

Additional support for this exhibition and Sail4th 250 is provided by Bulova and Jefferson’s Bourbon.

About the South Street Seaport Museum

The South Street Seaport Museum, located in the heart of the historic seaport district in New York City, preserves and interprets the history of New York as a great port city. Founded in 1967, the Museum houses an extensive collection of works of art and artifacts, a maritime reference library, exhibition galleries and education spaces, working 19th century print shops, and an active fleet of historic vessels that all work to tell the story of “Where New York Begins.” seaportmuseum.org

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