The work, commissioned by mezzo-soprano Florence Quivar and Music Accord, is a collaboration between Pulitzer Prize winning composer William Bolcom and playwright Sandra Seaton.
After being contacted by Quivar, Bolcom asked Seaton to write entries for a fictional diary kept by Sally Hemings throughout her life.
The work recreates the thoughts and feelings of Sally Hemings throughout her long relationship with Thomas Jefferson by means of fictional diary entries.
Florence Quivar performed From The Diary of Sally Hemings in 2001 at the Herbst Theatre in San Francisco, and again at the Coolidge Auditorium in the Library of Congress.
Soprano Alyson Cambridge and pianist Lydia Brown performed From The Diary of Sally Hemings at Carnegie Hall, Central Michigan University, Harkness Memorial Chapel in Cleveland and Oberlin Conservatory.