June 19, 1865 was the day when Major General Gordon Granger ordered the final enforcement of the Emancipation Proclamation in Texas. Long observed by many communities, but made a national holiday in 2021, Juneteenth marks a pivotal moment in Black American history. This year it falls on a Friday, and WRTI will spend that day honoring the struggle for civil rights, and celebrating the Black American experience with classical music and jazz by prominent Black composers and performers.
Classical Weekdays
Kicking off the morning’s programming is Samuel Coleridge-Taylor’s Toussaint L’Ouverture, a 1901 concert overture inspired by the legacy of Toussaint Louverture, the most prominent leader of the Haitian Revolution.
Despite Coleridge-Taylor’s successful career as a conductor and composer, his music remains infrequently performed. There are still some Coleridge-Taylor advocates, however, such as conductor Michael Repper, who unearthed and reconstructed a number of Coleridge-Taylor pieces in a recent album with the National Philharmonic Orchestra, as detailed in a recent interview with WRTI.
Like clockwork, Zev Kane will be sounding WRTI’s Sousalarm at 7:15, this time featuring Johnson’s March by Francis Johnson. Highlighted last month as a part of WRTI’s Let Freedom Ring series, Johnson — a native Philadelphian, virtuosic soloist, and accomplished composer — extensively toured America in the 19th century with his celebrated band, playing marches and other popular music for the public.
At 8 a.m., we’ll hear the overture to Morgiane, the oldest opera written by a Black American composer. Born in 1827 in New Orleans, Edmond Dédé was a fourth-generation free person of color, although he saw the greatest success while living and working in France. Morgiane, his magnum opus, was discovered by conductor Patrick Dupre Quigley in Harvard’s Houghton Library, and finally had its premiere in 2025 at the Opera Lafayette.
At 10 a.m., Melinda Whiting will feature a number of pieces by Black Philadelphians: two songs by contralto and civil rights activist Marian Anderson; a take on Rachmaninoff conducted by Anderson’s nephew, James DePreist; and two Liszt pieces performed by pianist André Watts.
Just before noon, Melinda will feature Three Spirituals, Adolphus Hailstork’s 2005 arrangement of three traditional spirituals: "Everytime I Feel the Spirit," "Kum Ba Yah," and "Oh Freedom." In a 2023 conversation at WRTI, Hailstork recounted his military service, musical upbringing, and experience as a Black composer in America.
At 2:45 p.m. we'll hear selections from Treemonisha, an opera composed by ragtime legend Scott Joplin. Before the rediscovery of Edmond Dédé’s Morgiane, Treemonisha was considered to be the oldest surviving opera by a Black American composer. Although Joplin died before seeing a fully realized production, the opera had its world premiere in Atlanta in 1972. (Stay tuned to hear this opera in its entirety as a part of WRTI’s programming this coming Independence Day weekend.)
Friday Mixtape and The Bridge
In the evening we’ll switch gears to our jazz programming, as Nicole Sweeney fills in on the Friday Mixtape and J. Michael Harrison hosts The Bridge.
Among the tracks we can look forward to are Jon Batiste’s “Freedom,” which opened his Grammy-winning album WE ARE; Bobby Watson’s triumphant “Someday We’ll All Be Free”; and Anthony Tidd’s “L.O.V.E.,” featuring the spoken-word poetry of Ursula Rucker.
We'll also hear “Juneteenth,” by the L.A.-based collective Katalyst, recorded in collaboration with producers Adrian Younge and Ali Shaheed Muhammad as part of their popular series Jazz Is Dead. As noted in the British magazine Jazzwise, this track "has all the jubilant drive you’d hope for given the title." It's a fitting anthem for our Juneteenth celebration — but also just one tile in a larger musical mosaic. Tune in!