Nnenna Ogwo’s Fifth Annual Juneteenth Celebration Pulls from the Archives

Origin stories can say it all...So to note that pianist, composer, and educator Nnenna Ogwo celebrates her birthday on Juneteenth is not to introduce trivia. The holiday, itself a birthday for freedoms too often infringed in the 155 years since, occasions both joy and reflection. Accordingly, so did Ogwo’s fifth annual Juneteenth Celebration concert, premiered as a pre-recorded video on June 19, 2020...Featuring performances of new and favorite music, including “A Change is Gonna Come,” the show is a must-watch...The inclusion of a “Happy Birthday” jam for Ogwo at the end of the video was no mere touch of fun. It said something about the communities that regular performance builds, the bond between composers, performers, and audiences that develop over time...Ogwo’s productive collaboration with Sterling Strings is a light against the shadows that loss casts over too many Juneteenths.

— Nick Stevens on June 30, 2020 at 6:00 am