Soundscape with Rita Burns and Ronya-Lee Anderson
Developed in response to the juried invitational exhibition Tomorrow the Sun Will Rise: The Phillips Collection Juried Exhibition, join us for an in-gallery performative soundscape. Rita Burns and Ronya-Lee Anderson will compose and perform a live soundscape that weaves together songs chosen by the artists featured in the exhibition.
This event occurs during Third Thursday. See the exhibition for free during extended hours from 5-8 pm.
IMAGE: Left: Rita Burns, Right: Ronya-Lee Anderson
Rita Burns is a Washington, DC–based DJ, dance artist, educator, radio host, and culture bearer whose work explores the intersections of music, movement, memory, and community.
Raised in Williamsburg, Virginia, and shaped by decades of life and artistic practice in the Washington, DC, area, Rita developed a deep appreciation for how history, culture, and storytelling shape our understanding of place and identity. Drawing from her experiences in dance, performance, and Black social dance culture, she creates immersive experiences that connect audiences through rhythm, storytelling, and collective reflection.
Rita is rooted in the belief that music serves as both a living archive and a gathering place, preserving histories while creating opportunities for connection and dialogue. She is one of the hosts of Meeting In The Ladies' Room on WPFW 89.3 FM, where she curates soulful musical journeys bridging jazz, house, African diasporic traditions, and contemporary culture.
As a performer, educator, and collaborator, Rita uses sound and movement to honor memory, strengthen community, and create spaces for reflection, healing, and possibility.
Ronya-Lee and the Light Factory (RTLF) is a musical project created by Ronya-Lee LaVaune Anderson (MDiv, MFA, PhD). The Light Factory names a commitment to building work that illuminates, enlightens and points to the fact that Ronya-Lee creates in cooperation with many lights, including present collaborators, past ancestors and future witnesses. Ronya-Lee and the Light Factory blends original music, dance, film and fashion to create layered performance experiences. Ronya-Lee is a Caribbean-American folk-soul singer-songwriter from Washington, DC. Born from Jamaican immigrants, she credits Saturday night house parties, Sunday morning church services and afternoon singalongs at the piano with fostering her love of music.
The ukulele-playing fem-crooners' musical stylings are of a unique species fusing folk, soul, and rock with underlying strokes of psychedelia. Reinforced by her enchanting, sultry soprano and well-crafted lyricism, Ronya-Lee skillfully maneuvers between genres to create an exclusive and remarkable blend of pop.
Her creative research is embedded in Afro-diasporic aesthetics with approaches informed by Black feminist theoretical frameworks, critical race theory and world-building. Most recently, she has presented both embodied and theoretical work at the The Collegium of African Diaspora Dance (2018, 2024) and delivered keynotes at Asbury Methodist Village (2026), the International Association of Blacks in Dance Conference (2024) and BlackLight Summit (2019-22). Ronya- Lee has published articles in the Journal of Dance Education, Sojourners Magazine, the UCC Journal of Worship, Music and Ministry, The Dance Chronicle and the textbook, Dance in US Popular Culture.
Recent awards and commissions include the Pola Nirenska Award for Outstanding Achievement in Dance (2021), Aunt Karen’s Farm Residency (2021), See Site National Endowment of the Arts Residency (2023), Kennedy Center REACH Office Hours (2020, 2024), Dance Place Artist Residency (2022-24), the Dance Chronicle Award (2025), Sine Civic Life Faculty Fellowship (2025) and the Carla Perlo Fund for Performance (2025-2026).
