Watercolor (2021) by Eleonor Sandresky; graphic design by Orpheus Bureau
LUNAR LANDSCAPES: Beaver Moon premieres on November 19, 2021 at 9pm ET. We will celebrate the full moon with special guest composer Nkeiru Okoye. The livestream will also include music by Philip Glass and Eleonor Sandresky.
Our themed cocktail is Nkeiru-tini, and you will receive the recipe and snack recommendations when you purchase your $5 ticket, along with a unique link to the event.
Click below for tickets!
PROGRAM
GLASS Etude #9 for solo piano,
performed by Eleonor Sandresky
OKOYE Voices Shouting Out for orchestra,
performed by the Detroit Symphony
“I Am Moses the Liberator” from Harriet Tubman: When I Crossed That Line to Freedom, the opera
Performed by Sumayya Ali (Harriet Tubman), Sequina DuBose (Rachel Ross), Nicole Mitchell (Rittia "Ma" Ross), Clinton Ingram (Ben "Pa" Ross / William Still), John Damian Norfleet (Tubman / Robert Ross).
Featuring a string quintet from the The Harlem Chamber Players
3 Movements for string quartet
performed by the Harlem Chamber Players
SANDRESKY “What’s Left” and “Laughter” from Strange Energies, etudes for piano,
performed by Lisa Moore
About Nkeiru Okoye
Nkeiru Okoye, photo by Matt Gray.
A composer with a gift for incorporating many influences and styles within her work, Nkeiru Okoye is perhaps best known for her opera, Harriet Tubman: When I Crossed that Line to Freedom, the orchestral work, Voices Shouting Out, which is an artistic response to 9/11, and her suite, African Sketches, which has been performed by pianists around the globe. Dr. Okoye is a Guggenheim Fellow. She is profiled in the “Music of Black Composers Coloring Book” and Routledge’s “African American Music: An Introduction” textbook. She is the inaugural recipient of the International Florence Price Award for Composition. A recent New York Times article proclaimed, “Okoye’s work would make a fitting grand opening for an opera company’s post-pandemic relaunch.”
The State of Michigan issued a proclamation acknowledging Dr. Okoye’s “extraordinary contributions” to the history of Detroit, Michigan, for Black Bottom, a symphonic experience commissioned by the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, in celebration of the centennial season of Orchestra Hall. Her other recent works include Tales from the Briar Patch, commissioned by The American Opera Project, and “Charlotte Mecklenburg,” commissioned by the Charlotte Symphony. Some of her upcoming compositions for the 2021-2022 season include “Euba’s Dance,” for cellist Matt Haimowitz, “When young spring comes” for pianist and NPR Host, Laura Downes, and a micro-opera, “600 Square Feet,” for Cleveland Opera Theatre.
Dr. Okoye is a board member of Composers Now!. She holds a BM in Composition from Oberlin Conservatory, and a PhD in Music Theory and Composition from Rutgers University.
Learn more about Nkeiru Okoye