Crossing Borders Music
​Celebrating Juneteenth!

​“Celebrating Juneteenth!” uses music to to tell stories of the ongoing journey from slavery to justice. To celebrate Juneteenth, a historic date that commemorates the emancipation of enslaved people, Crossing Borders Music has commissioned new music of The Honourable Elizabeth A. Baker, Jordyn Davis, and Jessica T. Carter. The program will also include “Lead Me Home” by Brittany J. Green based on the hymn “Precious Lord” famously sung by Mahalia Jackson, the 2021 revised version of String Quartet No. 1 by AJ Isaacson-Zvidzwa, and “Five Folksongs in Counterpoint,” highlighting African-American folksongs, by trailblazing historic Chicago composer Florence Price. The program will be the subject of a short documentary by Chicago filmmaker Rubye Lane, and is the brainchild of Crossing Borders Music board member and Strategic Planning Committee Chair Marjorie Adam Clark, who is also co-chair of the Forest Park Juneteenth Committee and Illinois Juneteenth Committee. Juneteenth, Marjorie says, is “a holiday of racial healing.”
This event will be broadcast live on the Crossing Borders Music Facebook and YouTube channels.
Featuring Rasa Mahmoudian and Jennifer Leckie, violins; Seth Van Embden, viola; and Tom Clowes, cello; with special thanks to Thavary Krouch for her technical support.
“Celebrating Juneteenth!” is supported in part by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts.
This program is made possible in part by the Paul M Angell Family Foundation and City of Chicago’s Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events.
Crossing Borders Music acknowledges support from the Illinois Arts Council Agency.