Come on, LeBron

LeBron, you helped teach the world about the Tulsa Race Massacre.

Now will you help us move forward?

🎞️ THE VIDEO

Come on, LeBron.

Let's offer hope to the world.

📜 THE LETTER

Hope starts with beauty.

Let me explain.

Dear LeBron,

I'm Barron Ryan, a pianist and composer from Tulsa, Oklahoma. I care about my city. So as the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre's centennial drew near five years ago, I saw an opportunity to help. In the remembrance of that horrible atrocity, I purposed to offer beauty.

You see, beauty matters because …

😤 READY TO RUMBLE?

Let's go, then.

See you in T-Town.

Why come to Tulsa? Because your presence would turn people's heads. It'd make them wonder what could be so important that LeBron James would travel all the way to Oklahoma for it.

That's the kind of attention There Arises Light needs to make the biggest impact. Your presence at my album release concert could be a continuation of your work with Dreamland, and enable a message of hope to reach countless people.

So come on, LeBron. Your credentials are ready.

King James' Backstage Pass

Claim It

🎵 BEHIND THE MUSIC

There Arises Light aims to offer hope in the wake of the Tulsa Race Massacre.

Here's my approach.

How do you express love in the midst of grief? By showing that you understand the pain.

For There Arises Light, I began with the poignant account of massacre survivor Mary E. Jones Parrish, and wrote music to convey her sorrow. Watch the video below to hear how.

🗣️ WORD ON THE STREET

What are people saying about There Arises Light?

Let's hear from former 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre Commission Program Director and Greenwood Rising Interim Director, Phil Armstrong.

Phil's not the only one who's pumped.

Touch the cards to see what the experts say.

Non-experts are into it too.

Janice
Bamford

Kelley

Owen

Tim
Bickers

✍️ STATUS UPDATE

Here's what's up.

There's still work to do.

I'll be honest, LeBron. Besides wanting you appreciate the power of There Arises Light, I need other people to know about it.

A beautiful work of art won't do much good if the public doesn't know about it, so pursuing your endorsement is a good reason to talk about my music with the rest of the world, too.

If all goes well, by the time the project is released, this musical form of beauty and hope will reach all of Tulsa (and beyond!).

✏️ Compose music

☺️ Premiere composition

🎙️ Record
audio + video

👨‍💻 Prep audio + video

🖼️ Complete artwork

🔈 Release album

📣 Spread the word

🤞 Concert in Tulsa w/LeBron (then LA??)

Premiere in Tulsa, OK

Recording: Behind-the-Scenes

Recording Dream Team

👨🏽‍🦲 ABOUT ME

Who is this pianist from Tulsa, anyway?

I'm Barron Ryan: a mission-minded musician.

I approach music with one goal: to discover and present the beauty I'm uniquely positioned for.

That beauty has come in unpredictable forms. I'm a classically-trained pianist who appreciates all sorts of styles, so I made an album of pop, soul, and funk piano music. I published a book about a love song that took 40 years to write. I performed on CBS Sports.

What doesn't change is the effect I strive for. I want to make music in a way that leaves both the listener and me with a sense of wonder. I want us to leave grateful. I want us to feel loved.

So when I was asked to write a composition commemorating the Tulsa Race Massacre, I jumped at the chance. Because I love my city, and beauty could help reconnect my neighbors to each other.

Now that my goal has begun working in Tulsa, I want it to spread even further. Think of how we might all thrive if we truly cared for one another.

You have the ability to encourage that spirit. So come on, LeBron. Will you?