• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • HOME
  • NEWS+OPINIONS
    • NEWS TO US
    • COLUMNS
      • APPARENT HORIZON
      • DEAR READER
      • Close
    • LONGFORM FEATURES
    • OPINIONS
    • EDITORIAL
    • Close
  • ARTS+ENTERTAINMENT
    • FILM
    • MUSIC
    • COMEDY
    • PERFORMING ARTS
    • VISUAL ARTS
    • Close
  • DINING+DRINKING
    • EATS
    • SIPS
    • BOSTON BETTER BEER BUREAU
    • Close
  • LIFESTYLE
    • CANNABIS
      • TALKING JOINTS MEMO
      • Close
    • WELLNESS
    • GTFO
    • Close
  • STUFF TO DO
  • TICKETS
  • ABOUT US
    • ABOUT
    • MASTHEAD
    • ADVERTISE
    • Close

Dig Bos

The Dig - Greater Boston's Alternative News Source

OPERA IN THE KEY OF FREEDOM

Written by SHIRA LAUCHAROEN Posted June 18, 2021 Filed Under: MUSIC

The North End Music and Performing Arts Center will host a virtual event in honor of Juneteenth.


On June 19, NEMPAC will be broadcasting a virtual streaming of “Juneteenth: Opera in the Key of Freedom,” at 12:30 p.m. The concert will feature classical and jazz soundscapes by William Grant Still, Scott Joplin, and the Chevalier de Saint-Georges. There will also be a world premiere of Mason Bynes’ “If Singing is Free,” commissioned to commemorate the life of Elijah McClain and others tragically lost due to police brutality. The event is a celebration of Juneteenth, when the Emancipation Proclamation was read in 1865 in Texas, marking the end of slavery.

“Juneteenth is a holiday celebrating the reading of the Emancipation Proclamation to the last group of enslaved peoples in Texas, marking a full end to slavery in the United States,” said Alexandra Dietrich, artistic director of NEMPAC Opera, on NEMPAC’s website. “As a Puerto Rican American who grew up in Maine, my knowledge of Juneteenth was lacking until a few years ago. The more I read about the holiday and the history as an adult, the more I understood how narrow the narrative I had been taught in school truly was. Juneteenth: Opera in the Key of Freedom aims to play a part in undoing this narrow narrative by 1) fostering an understanding that slavery didn’t end with the Emancipation Proclamation or the Civil War and 2) underscoring how many more complexities there are to healing the lasting effects of the violent trauma of slavery in America’s history.”

Reserve a complimentary ticket here.

SHIRA LAUCHAROEN
+ posts

Shira Laucharoen is a reporter based in Boston. She currently serves as the assistant director of the Boston Institute for Nonprofit Journalism. In the past she has written for Sampan newspaper, The Somerville Times, Scout Magazine, Boston Magazine, and WBUR.

    This author does not have any more posts.

Filed Under: MUSIC Tagged With: Juneteenth, justice, Music, opera, race

WHAT’S NEW

State Wire: Advocates Push For 'Tax Fairness' With Expanded Child Tax Credits

State Wire: Advocates Push For ‘Tax Fairness’ With Expanded Child Tax Credits

Mass Lawmakers Hear Testimony On Cannabis Testing, Medical Access

Mass Lawmakers Hear Testimony On Cannabis Testing, Medical Access

Massachusetts Bill, Victim Advocates Call For Coordinated Date-Rape Drug Response

Massachusetts Bill, Victim Advocates Call For Coordinated Date-Rape Drug Response

Report: Fewer Youth Transition Out Of Massachusetts Foster Care System

Report: Fewer Youth Transition Out Of Massachusetts Foster Care System

State Wire: Activists Urge Congress To Raise Debt Ceiling, Resist Spending Cuts

State Wire: Activists Urge Congress To Raise Debt Ceiling, Resist Spending Cuts

Dancing On Banana Peels: Life On Lifetime Parole In Massachusetts

Dancing On Banana Peels: Life On Lifetime Parole In Massachusetts

Primary Sidebar

AAN Wire


Footer

Social Buttons

DigBoston facebook DigBoston Twitter DigBoston Instagram

Masthead

About

Advertise

Customer Service

About Us

DigBoston is a one-stop nexus for everything worth doing or knowing in the Boston area. It's an alt-weekly, it's a website, it's an email blast, it's a twitter account, it's that cool party that you were at last night ... hey, you're reading it, so it's gotta be good. For advertising inquiries: sales@digboston.com To reach editorial (and for inquiries about internship opportunities): editorial@digboston.com