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Date: 6/14/2023
SPRINGFIELD — On June 19, the Springfield Symphony Orchestra will present a Juneteenth concert entitled Celebrating Freedom at 3 p.m. at Symphony Hall on 34 Court St., featuring the Springfield Symphony Chorus, Extended Family Choir and Avery Sharpe Quartet with soloists Kevin Sharpe, Vanessa Ford, Sofia Rivera and Heshima Moja.
This concert will be a fusion of symphonic, jazz, gospel, classical and choral music. These musical compositions include the Black National Anthem “Lift Every Voice and Sing” by J. Rosamund Johnson and J. Weldon Johnson, “Oh, Happy Day,” “A City Called Heaven” and “Wade In The Water,” as well as Quinn Mason’s “Inspiration! Festive Overture” and Jessie Montgomery’s “Soul Force.” The concert will also include newer works like Hezekiah Walker’s “Better” and Avery Sharpe’s “Antebellum.”
SSO’s guest conductor Kevin Scott explained, “All of these pieces mean something to Juneteenth. What I’d like to see happen is that more people will come to hear the music not just for its own sake, but also realize that this is a very important chapter in American history. Music correlates to history and we need to preserve the legacy of Black music, especially the works of Black classical composers.”
He continued, “The legacy of Black classical composers is still in need of exposure not just to be played on holidays, but every day. If you’re coming to a concert like this for the very first time and you’re walking into something that you’re not expecting, this is an eye-opener for many people and then they’ll want to find out more about these composers. I hope this concert shows how much we contributed to this nation from labor right down to the arts.”
Juneteenth is considered the longest-running African American holiday and has been called America’s second Independence Day. On Jan. 1, 1863, news of the Emancipation Proclamation had taken effect as all enslaved people in Confederate States were declared legally free. However, not everyone in the Confederate territory would immediately be free. Though the Emancipation Proclamation was made effective in 1863, it could not be implemented in places still under Confederate control. It wasn’t until 1865, after the 13th Amendment passed, that emancipation became national policy. When Union soldiers arrived in Galveston, Texas, on June 19, 1865, Union Army General Gordon Granger announced that the more than 250,000 enslaved Black people in the state were freed by executive decree. This day would be known as “Juneteenth” by the newly free people in Texas. Juneteenth officially became a federal holiday on June 17, 2021.
SSO President/CEO Paul Lambert said, “This is our first year doing a Juneteenth concert. It’s a very new national holiday. We thought it was a wonderful time to do a new concert and new offering as a way of reaching out to our community in saying thank you for sticking with us through the last few difficult years coming out of the pandemic.”
Lambert went on to say, “It’s time for us to celebrate emancipation and freedom. It’s a chance for us to look at the historic challenges of that era and the eras we’re still living in, but at the same time know that if we work together to make everyone’s life better, we can have a collective future that’s brighter and better than today.”
The concert is free of charge. To reserve a ticket, go to springfieldsymphony.org.