Juneteenth celebrations are many and varied, and are even on different days, not just June 19th. Here are a few concerts including classical music:
June 18 — Minneapolis Philharmonic celebrates with a concert featuring Nkeiru Okoye’s stirring “Voices Shouting Out” and Brittany Green’s “Testify!” Conducted by Kedrick Armstrong, the concert also includes music by Brian Raphael Nabors and Samuel Coleridge-Taylor.
Brittany Green’s exuberant Testify! may be heard here, preceded by an introduction from the composer.
Lena Johnson McLin
And on June 19th, the St. Augustine Music Festival Chamber Orchestra begins its Festival with “Voices of Freedom: American Music for Juneteenth” including music by Lena Johnson McLin, Jessie Montgomery, George Walker, Quinn Mason, and someone named Aaron Copland.
McLin (1928-2023) is best-known as a Chicago based educator, but her “Free at Last Cantata,” a musical tribute to the life of Martin Luther King, Jr., is heard here recorded by the Minnesota Orchestra and Chorale in 1982.
Also on June 19th, Groton Hill Music Center (in MA) presents “Juneteenth – And She’ll Rise” celebrating African-American Women composers Florence Price, Margaret Bonds, Undine Smith Moore, Mary Watkins, and Jessie Montgomery, performed by baritone Philip Lima, pianist Karen Walwyn, and the Boston Public Quartet.
Of course there are many more events celebrating the end of slavery in the U.S. We hope you have a meaningful holiday!