Amistad fans are eagerly anticipating new releases, as both Anthony Hopkins and Morgan Freeman — stars of Steven Spielberg’s 1997 historical drama — are set to unveil individual projects on Decca next month. Today it was announced that Sir Anthony Hopkins has signed with Decca Classics as a composer and will release his musical work Life Is A Dream, performed by Grammy‑award‑winning conductor Gustavo Dudamel and the Philharmonia Orchestra, on August 21.
The announcement follows a month after Freeman revealed his 12‑track collection Morgan Freeman’s Symphonic Blues Experience, slated for an August 7 release. Unveiled on Juneteenth with the single “Death Letter Blues,” the project was narrated and produced by Freeman and features blues innovators Taj Mahal, Keb’ Mo’, Lawrence “Boo” Mitchell and Shemekia Copeland. It also includes performances by regular musicians from the Ground Zero Blues Club, a venue Freeman opened 25 years ago in Clarksdale. (Freeman previously hosted the 2020 mixtape Savage Mode II by 21 Savage and Metro Boomin.)
“I first heard the blues on my grandmother’s porch in the Mississippi Delta, and it has stayed with me ever since,” Freeman said in a press release. “Having Taj Mahal open the album with a cover of Son House’s classic ‘Death Letter Blues’ sets the perfect tone for this record.”
Hopkins’ project is also a decade‑spanning composition, inspired by his family heritage, Welsh roots, and a lifetime of experience. His debut single “Bracken Road” from the suite *1947: Suite for Solo Piano and Orchestra* is now available.
“Music was my first desire, my first wish,” Hopkins added. “I have been composing pieces throughout my life, and many of them have accompanied me for decades, prompting me to return to them again and again.”
The two Oscar‑winning actors share more than a collaboration in *Amistad*; they were born six months apart in 1937.
Both Morgan Freeman’s Symphonic Blues Experience and Life Is A Dream will be released via Decca on August 7 and August 21, respectively.
