Springfield – The Springfield Symphony Orchestra (SSO) will present its inaugural Juneteenth concert, free and open to the community, at 3 p.m. on Monday, June 19, 2023 at Springfield Symphony Hall.
Tickets are free, and can be reserved on the Springfield Symphony Orchestra website, www.SpringfieldSymphony.org, or by calling the SSO Box Office at 413-733-2291. Tickets are general admission and those planning to attend are encouraged to reserve tickets in advance.
The concert will feature the orchestra performing with many voices from the community, including the Springfield Symphony Chorus, the Avery Sharpe Quartet, and Springfield’s Extended Family Choir. The concert will be conducted by Conductor Kevin Scott, who led the SSO for its “Audacity of Hope” concert in its 2022-23 season celebrating the life and spirit of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
According to Paul Lambert, President and CEO of the Springfield Symphony Orchestra, “We are so pleased to offer this Juneteenth concert free to the community that celebrates the incredible diversity of our region and commemorates an important date in our collective history, especially with the rich history of our city and region with the Underground Railroad and the Abolitionist Movement.
“We are grateful to our community, sponsors, donors, and friends for their support of the SSO, especially through this past season as we returned to the Symphony Hall stage for our first full season since the pandemic and announced a new contract with our musicians. We look forward to offering new programs and performances that engage our community, Juneteenth being a wonderful example of that.”
The Extended Family Choir is a group of more than 20 singers, founded by Avery Sharpe and led by Kevin Sharpe. Featured soloists will include Vanessa Ford, Sofia Rivera, Heshima Moja and Kevin Sharpe. The Avery Sharpe Quartet includes Avery Sharpe on double bass and electric bass; Zaccai Curtis, piano; Charles Langford, soprano and tenor saxophones; and Yoron Israel, drums.
The Juneteenth community concert was made possible through generous contributions by Bob and Roberta Bolduc, Ronnie Leavitt in memory of her parents, a donor who wishes to be anonymous, Lyman Wood, Country Bank, and Mercedes-Benz of Springfield. The City of Springfield is also helping to defray some of the SSO’s Symphony Hall costs.
According to Heather Gawron, Director of Development at the SSO, “These contributions from generous individuals and businesses in the community are helping to defray some of the cost of the concert. We are still reaching out and looking for additional financial support. Our Juneteenth celebration will be a large-scale, free to the public concert that presents a great opportunity to businesses to draw attention to your company or brand. It also represents an opportunity to celebrate the diversity of our region and an important and historic commemoration.”
Businesses, organizations and individuals wishing to contribute or become an event sponsor should contact Heather Gawron at hgawron@springfieldsymphony.org.
The program will feature music such as “Lift Every Voice and Sing” (J. Rosamund Johnson & J. Weldon Johnson, Arr. Hale Smith); “Oh, Happy Day” (Edwin Hawkins, Arr. Avery Sharpe); traditional spiritual songs such as “Wade In the Water Full” and “A City Called Heaven,” and music by contemporary composers such as Quinn Mason (“Inspiration! Festive Overture”).
Guest Conductor Scott, an African-American conductor, composer and native New Yorker, has led various orchestras, choruses and bands throughout the greater New York area and in Atlanta, Philadelphia and Bulgaria. His works have been performed by the orchestras of Atlanta, Detroit, Houston, Minneapolis, St. Louis, and Springfield.
Juneteenth is a federal holiday in the United States commemorating the emancipation of enslaved African Americans, deriving its name from combining “June” and “nineteenth.” The holiday is celebrated on the anniversary of the hundreds of thousands of enslaved African Americans in Galveston Bay, Texas receiving the news by way of the Union army troops that they were freed in 1865. The troops’ arrival came a full two-and-a-half years after the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation. Juneteenth became a state holiday in Texas in 1980, and in 2021 Juneteenth was officially made a federal holiday. ■