Robert De Niro made an unannounced appearance at Carnegie Hall on March 3, earning loud applause as he took to the stage at the 39th annual Tibet House US benefit concert. Rather than delivering his own remarks, the Oscar-winning actor recited excerpts from Abraham Lincoln’s 1838 ‘Lyceum Address’, a speech warning against mob violence and urging respect for the Constitution and the rule of law.
“Reason, cold, calculating, unimpassioned reason, must furnish all the materials for our future support and defence,” De Niro read, his voice strengthening as he continued.
The address also inspired Philip Glass’s ‘Symphony No. 15, Lincoln’. Glass, a co-director of the benefit, had been due to premiere the work at the Kennedy Center in June but cancelled the performance earlier this year following changes to the venue’s leadership.
While US President Donald Trump was rarely mentioned directly during the nearly three-hour concert, references to political tension were evident throughout the evening. Several performers criticised war, immigration enforcement and what they described as a growing culture of indifference.
The event celebrated musical experimentation and global influences, opening with an invocation by the Drepung Gomang Monks and featuring performances from Laurie Anderson, Elvis Costello, Maya Hawke and others. Highlights included renditions of The Rolling Stones’ ‘Wild Horses’ and Paul McCartney’s ‘Maybe I’m Amazed’.
The evening blended protest music, folk, gospel and spoken word, underscoring a message of artistic freedom and unity.
