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Insight News • June 15, 2026 - June 21, 2026 • Page 1
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June 15, 2026 - June 21, 2026
Vol. 53 No. 24 • The Journal For Community News, Business & The Arts • insightnews.com
JUNETEENTH 2026
Freedom Day: joy, resilience The Grammy-winning Minneapolis ensemble’s “Juneteenth Celebration” endures as a soundtrack for emancipation, culture and the unfinished work of justice.
From left: Kedrick Armstrong, Melody Betts and Brian Raphael Nabors
Minnesota Orchestra honors Black artistry Editor
By Al McFarlane As communities across the nation commemorate Juneteenth, the Minnesota Orchestra is preparing an evening that celebrates not only freedom, but the enduring power of Black creativity, resilience and cultural expression. On Thursday, June 18, 2026, at 7 p.m., Orchestra Hall becomes a gathering place where history, artistry and community converge. The Orchestra’s fourth annual Juneteenth concert weaves the classical tradition together with the sounds of gospel, jazz, soul and the Black church, spotlighting composers whose work has expanded and transformed the American musical landscape. More than a concert, the evening is a reflection on the meaning of Juneteenth — the federal holiday marking June 19, 1865, when enslaved African Americans in Galveston, Texas, finally learned of their freedom, more than two years after the Emancipation Proclamation. Through music and gathering, the program honors that legacy while celebrating the living contributions of Black artists. Leading the performance is conductor Kedrick Armstrong, newly named mu-
sic director of the Oakland Symphony — the ninth in that orchestra’s nearly century-long history — making his Minnesota Orchestra debut. Named by The Washington Post to its “22 for ’22” list of artists to watch, Armstrong has built his reputation advocating for the performance, publication and preservation of Black and other historically underrepresented voices in classical music.
Black composers across generations
The repertoire spans more than a century of Black musical achievement. The program opens with Samuel Coleridge-Taylor’s rhythmic The Bamboula, inspired by Afro-Caribbean dance traditions. Coleridge-Taylor — the British composer of Sierra Leonean and English parentage once called the “African Mahler” — won international acclaim at a time when opportunities for Black composers were exceedingly rare. The evening continues with Brittany Green’s soulful Testify!, the work of one of the most compelling emerging voices in contemporary concert music, and Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson’s Worship: Concert Overture for Orchestra. Perkinson — composer, conductor and violinist, and a namesake of the elder Coleridge-Taylor — wrote music that moved fluidly across classical, jazz and sacred traditions, reflecting the breadth of Black cultural life. Nkeiru Okoye’s stirring Voices Shouting Out channels not despair but hope,
determination and communal healing — themes that resonate with the spirit of Juneteenth and the ongoing pursuit of justice and equality.
Soul and symphony on one stage
Two guest artists bring the evening to its emotional height. Chicago-based actress and singer-songwriter Melody Betts — who appeared as Aunt Em and Evillene in The Wiz on Broadway and made her Broadway debut in Waitress — lends her commanding voice to a set of R&B and soul classics. The finale belongs to composer and pianist Brian Raphael Nabors, who takes the stage as soloist in his own Concerto for Hammond Organ. Built around the instrument long associated with gospel worship, jazz and the sanctified tradition, the concerto stages a dialogue between congregation and concert hall — a thrilling fusion of gospel, jazz and symphonic sound. Nabors’ music has been performed by the Boston, Atlanta, Detroit and Munich symphonies, among others, and by the Minnesota Orchestra.
A celebration beyond the stage
The Juneteenth gathering begins before the Orchestra plays. From 6:15 to 6:45 p.m. in the Target Atrium, the Minneapolis choir Known MPLS performs. In the lobby, the African American Heritage Museum and Gallery presents The Black Vote, an exhibition tracing the long struggle for political representation and voting rights.
And on the main floor, Wendy’s House of Soul serves its Southern-rooted cooking before the concert and at intermission — a taste of the culinary traditions that have always traveled alongside the music. The program is presented with lead support from the McVay Foundation and with support from the Minnesota State Arts Board.
A changing community, an enduring question
That a major American orchestra now anchors its calendar with an annual Juneteenth concert is itself a marker of change. It is worth pausing to ask what that change is responding to — and what it still asks of all of us. The Twin Cities are being remade. By 2040, according to projections from the Metropolitan Council, close to four in ten residents of the seven-county metro will be from Black, Asian or Latino communities, up from 28 percent in 2020. The Minnesota Compass projections cited by the region’s arts funders put the metro at 40 percent people of color by that same year. In Minneapolis today, Black residents make up roughly 18.5 percent of the population; statewide, some 476,000 Minnesotans are Black. An institution that intends to remain relevant — and to merit the public support it receives — cannot treat that community as an occasion on the calendar. It must build relationship with it. That is not a matter of charity. It is a matter of sur-
ORCHESTRA 10
As Juneteenth approaches, the Grammy Award-winning Sounds of Blackness offers Twin Cities audiences a stirring soundtrack for Freedom Day: “Juneteenth Celebration,” the Minneapolis ensemble’s vibrant anthem of joy, freedom and resilience. First released in 2022 alongside an official music video, the song has become a recurring centerpiece of the group’s June observances — a contemporary tribute to June 19, 1865, the day enslaved Africans in Galveston, Texas, finally learned of their freedom more than two years after the Emancipation Proclamation. Written and produced by founder and music director Gary Hines and recorded at Atomic K and Winterland studios in the group’s hometown of Minneapolis, “Juneteenth Celebration” channels the jubilation that newly freed people might have felt — rendered through the ensemble’s signature blend of gospel, soul, R&B, funk and African-rooted rhythms. For more than five decades, Sounds of Blackness has used music as a vehicle for cultural affirmation, social justice and spiritual uplift.
A celebration rooted in history
The song’s layered harmonies, exuberant instrumentation and call-and-response energy are built to do two things at once: remember and rejoice. By the time the chorus arrives, it works as an open invitation — a summons for communities across the country to join in the celebration. Under Hines’s direction, the composition bridges generations, linking the historic struggle for emancipation to present-day expressions of Black excellence, community pride and collective resilience. It is at once a party and a remembrance — a reminder of the sacrifices and determination that shaped the African American experience. The accompanying video reinforces that message with imagery centered on unity, heritage and hope, offering a
visual tribute to one of the most significant commemorations in American history.
A legacy spanning more than five decades
Sounds of Blackness traces its roots to 1969, when the ensemble took shape at Macalester College in St. Paul as the Macalester College Black Voices. In 1971, Gary Hines assumed leadership and the group adopted the name it carries today. Over the following decades it grew from a local gospel chorus into one of the nation’s most respected musical institutions, drawing national attention in 1991 when producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis released its debut album, “The Evolution of Gospel,” on their Perspective label. The ensemble’s repertoire spans gospel, jazz, blues, soul, R&B and African musical forms, reflecting the breadth of Black cultural expression. Its catalog includes enduring favorites such as “Optimistic,” “The Pressure,” “I Believe” and “I’m Going All the Way.” Across its career, Sounds of Blackness has earned three Grammy Awards, multiple Stellar Awards, NAACP Image Award recognition and an Emmy nomination, among other honors. It is at once a party and a remembrance — a reminder of the sacrifices and determination that shaped the African American experience. Beyond the accolades, the group has consistently positioned itself as a cultural and educational force, using music to address civil rights, social justice and community empowerment. As Hines has put it, the ensemble remains “in and of the community.” In the summer of 2020, members joined demonstrators in the streets of South Minneapolis, blocks from their rehearsal space, in the protests that followed the murder of George Floyd.
FREEDOM DAY 10