A Playlist to Commemorate Juneteenth

By Leilani Polk and Anna James

Declared an official federal holiday in 2021, Juneteenth commemorates the date that the last enslaved Black people in America finally got word of their freedom: June 19, 1865, two years after the Emancipation Proclamation and two months after the Civil War’s conclusion. Today, the date is a chance for the country to reflect on the continued impact of slavery on our national identity, and to acknowledge the systemic racism and injustices that have persisted generationally.

The Seattle Symphony is dedicated to elevating the voices of Black American performers and composers of the past, present and future, and to embracing and sharing their works with our audiences. A playlist featuring some exceptional Black artists below.

Nationally renowned, Tacoma-area born-and-raised mezzo-soprano J'Nai Bridges has made quite the name for herself. Most recently, in 2025, Bridges headlined the Nashville Symphony’s world premiere of Brian Field's “Everything Hurts,” a musical setting of poet Amanda Gorman’s “Hymn for the Hurting.” We look forward to seeing her perform in Berlioz's Romeo and Juliet next season with the orchestra. In the meantime, check out her stunning performance of Burning Hell, the second movement of Carlos Simon’s Songs of Separation. His 2023 orchestral work reflects on the human experience of separation with four movements depicting moments of grief, sorrow, hope and encouragement using the words of 13th century Persian poet, Jalāl al-Dīn Muḥammad Rūmī.

Violinist Randall Goosby — who, at the age of 9, made his career debut with the Jacksonville Symphony and has since garnered a multitude of accolades — lends his virtuosic talents to Adoration. The work was composed by Florence Price, the first Black American woman to have a symphony performed by a major orchestra, in 1933. Goosby joined us in 2024 for a dazzling performance of Mozart’s Third Violin Concerto.

Sinfonia No. 5, “Visions” was composer George Walker’s final work, and was written in response to the 2015 racially motivated shooting at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina. Walker’s modernist and transcendental “Visions” is showcased here in the hands of the Seattle Symphony.

Break out those pantaloons, it’s time for Bingham’s Cotillion! Francis Johnson, born in Philadelphia in 1792, was the first Black American musician to publish sheet music, in 1818. Ultimately, he published over 200 pieces during his time as an active composer. Here’s violinist Tami Lee Hughes performing the piece on 2011’s Legacy: Violin Music of African-American Composers.

Best known for his widely acclaimed scores on Jordan Peele films Get Out, Us, and Nope, Pulitzer Prize-winning Michael Abels is a true compositional storyteller. In Global Warming, his intention was to explore the heated international relations that were happening when this piece was commissioned in the early 1990s, including the disbanding of the Soviet Union. However, new meaning has emerged in relation to the pressing reality of climate change. Frenetic strings coincide with folk-inspired melodies, creating a world harmonious yet uncertain in nature.

Steven Banks is a stunning saxophonist and rising composer who made his debut on the Benaroya Hall stage in 2025 performing Billy Childs’ Diaspora Saxophone Concerto with the Seattle Symphony and Xian at the helm. He returns to perform one of his own works, Come As You Are, as well as a piece by Ibert in March 2027, and we are delighted to have him back. Below is a duo version of the first movement from Come As You Are, off his 2026 album and compositional debut, Cries, Sighs, and Dreams.

Feel free to melt into the stunning second movement of Ennanga, composed by William Grant Still, who broke many barriers for Black musicians. He was the first to conduct a major U.S. symphony orchestra, leading the Los Angeles Philharmonic in 1936. Ennanga was the only work Still composed for harp, and the title, the Ugandan word for “miniature harp,” conveys the significance of this instrument. Ashley Jackson gifts her remarkable expertise for this tremendous rendition.

Surprise, surprise, it’s another Seattle Symphony recording — after all, we are huge fans! Our 2023 release is immaculate; William Levi Dawson’s bold and riveting Negro Folk Symphony originally had its premiere with the Philadelphia Orchestra in 1934, followed by a Carnegie Hall performance the same year to glowing reviews from audiences and critics alike. It was the only symphony he wrote. The work was performed by the orchestra at Benaroya Hall in 2022 with conductor and Dawson champion Roderick Cox at the helm. The third movement below, O Le' Me Shine, Shine Like a Morning Star, promises forward momentum and jubilant healing through complex rhythmic choices derived from African diasporic traditions.

The exquisitely talented pianist Michelle Cann provides a deeply touching performance of The Bells (based on the spiritual, Peter, Go Ring Dem Bells) from the incomparable Margaret Bonds. Bonds goes down in history as a brilliant composer and pianist, who, among her many accomplishments, became the first Black American to perform with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.

Seattle favorite and profoundly inspired cellist and composer Gretchen Yanover joined us in 2024 for the Octave 9 Series, performing the entirety of her 2024 fifth album, Holding / Movement, in Octave 9: Raisbeck Music Center. The album found her pairing several of her pieces with poems by Seattle-based writers, “finding resonance between words and my music.” Check out Such Things Require Tenderness off Holding / Movement.

Professor, composer and Civil Rights activist Zenobia Powell Perry’s composition Homage pays respect to composer William L. Dawson, and is based on the spiritual I’ve Been Buked and I’ve Been Scorned, as featured in the unaccompanied portion at the beginning of the piece, performed by pianist Samantha Ege.

You may remember Brandee Younger from her appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert (RIP) this past March. We are excited to welcome her trio to Octave 9 next summer, in a performance celebrating the release of her 2025 album, Gadabout Season. Check out the shimmering title track from the album below.

Lift Every Voice and Sing, often referred to as “The Black National Anthem,” was written and set to music by NAACP leader James Weldon Johnson and his brother John Rosamond Johnson in 1900. From its composition until today, it continues to be a rallying cry for unity and freedom. Considering the historic significance of this hymn, we are reminded of the therapeutic power of music to transport listeners to a place of hope, and to offer comfort for those who have helped pave the way through oppression towards a brighter future.

Click here to check out the playlist on Spotify and add it to your library.