Today is a day of celebration and commemoration as people across the country honor the Juneteenth holiday — the day in 1865 when U.S. Army troops arrived in Galveston, Texas, to inform some of the last enslaved Americans that they were free.
Many communities in western Massachusetts will commemorate the day with music and community events.
Springfield Symphony Orchestra will be hosting its third annual Juneteenth concert. The concert is meant to share the legacy and work of African Americans in classical music, and to celebrate the diversity of the community. The event is free and open to the public.
This year’s program includes two pieces composed by Michael Abels, known for his work with award-winning director Jordan Peele. The event will also include a maker’s market, where people can buy from local vendors.
As Juneteenth commemorates the end of slavery, it is both a day of celebration and remembrance. While it has always been widely celebrated in Black communities across America, it was only recognized as a federal holiday in 2021. In the years since, more cities across America have developed special programming for the occasion.
“A large part of this is a ‘thank you,” the symphony's president and CEO Paul Lambert told the Fabulous 413, “a celebration of our community. And we want to bring in folks from the community…. We live in a rich, diverse area that I think is underappreciated by a larger part of the world until you’re lucky to live here.”
The program always features combined choral and orchestral performances, but this year’s program will have more emphasis on the choral element, said Kevin Sharp, the leader of the extended family choir that will be performing. “The roots of Black American music are the drum and the voice. So it’s completely logical and natural that we do vocal music in that.”
Conductor Kevin Scott commented on the importance of an initiative like this in the current political climate, stating, “At this time, when they’re trying to eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion, we are part of the diversity… the inclusion shows that in America, we are a melting pot of races, creeds, colors, religions, so forth. And if we don’t have that inclusion, it’s just a bland soup, folks. That’s all I can tell you.”
The concert will be today at 3 p.m. at Symphony Hall. Prior to the concert will be a flag-raising ceremony.
Other events across the region including Holyoke where Genuine Culture has teamed up with the Wistariahurst Museum to create a celebration for all today.
In Amherst there is a brand new space that is re-framing the context of local history in the town. Ancestral Bridges is bringing the black and Afro-Indigenous legacies and people of the town back into the spotlight through exhibits and ongoing research.
Many communities including Springfield and Greenfield will commemorate the day at City Hall and the Town Common, respectively.
Listen to the complete conversation with the organizers and conductors of the SSO concert on the Fabulous 413 podcast.
