photo credit “Jeff Goldberg / ESTO”

JUNETEENTH CELEBRATION 2024: 

The Year of Justice, Peace, and Love

Presented by Healing of the Nations Foundation in association with Carnegie Hall

Wednesday, June 19, 2024   7:00 PM

Juneteenth honors the beginning of our nation’s true independence—the freedom for all members of the reunited nation after the American Civil War. More than 400 years after the first enslaved African people were brought to the North American colonies, the fight for justice and equity continues. Join Rev. Dr. James A. Forbes Jr., notable honorees, distinguished speakers, and renowned artists for this national celebration of Black culture.

2024 Master of Ceremonies

Norm Lewis

Norm Lewis was recently seen onstage starring in the national tour of the Tony Award-winning production of A Soldier’s Play and in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s West End Concert of “Love Never Dies.” Mr. Lewis last appeared on Broadway in the Fall of 2021, starring in Chicken and Biscuits at the Circle In The Square Theatre. He received several award nominations for his performance as Porgy in the Broadway production of The Gershwins’ Porgy & Bess and in 2014 made history as the first Black “Phantom” in The Phantom Of The Opera. He is an Emmy, Grammy, Tony and SAG Award nominee for his work onstage, screen, and in music. Mr. Lewis is a proud, founding member of Black Theatre United.

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2024 Honorees

Rev. James A. Forbes Jr

Honoree

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Mrs. Bettye Forbes

Honoree

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Andrew Young

Honoree

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2024 Performers

Gregory Porter
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Acclaimed singer and songwriter Gregory Porter was raised in Bakersfield, California, and he cites the Bakersfield Southern Gospel sound, as well as his mother’s Nat King Cole record collection, as fundamental influences on his own sound.

Adrian Dunn
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Adrian Dunn is an a critically acclaimed singer, composer, and conductor. His most recent composition, Emancipation a PBS Special was nominated for 2 Emmy Awards in 2023 featuring The Adrian Dunn Singers & Dunn’s Rize Orchestra.

The Black Iris Project
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Founded in 2016 by award-winning artist Jeremy McQueen, The Black Iris Project (BIP) is an Emmy® award-winning ballet collaborative and education vehicle which creates new, relevant classical & contemporary ballet works that celebrate diversity and Black history. . www.blackirisproject.org

Daniel Koa Beaty
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An award-winning actor, singer, and writer, Daniel Koa Beaty’s critically acclaimed plays Through the Night, Emergency, Mr. Joy, Breath & Imagination, and The Tallest Tree in the Forest - Paul Robeson, have been performed at venues ranging from the Public Theater and Lincoln Center to the White House and maximum-security prisons.

Damien Sneed
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As a multi-genre recording artist and instrumentalist, Damien LeChateau Sneed is a pianist, vocalist, organist, composer, conductor, arranger, producer, and arts educator whose work spans multiple genres. He has worked with jazz, classical, pop, and R&B legends, including the late Aretha Franklin and Jessye Norman, Wynton Marsalis, Stevie Wonder, Diana Ross, Ashford & Simpson, Denyce Graves, Lawrence Brownlee, and many others.

Helen Cha-Pyo
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Helen H. Cha-Pyo is currently in her sixth season as the Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of the Wharton Institute for the Performing Arts. Under her leadership, Wharton Arts has flourished into an organization serving nearly 2,000 students from 13 New Jersey counties.

The Ebony Ecumenical Ensemble, Inc.
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The Ebony Ecumenical Ensemble, Inc. was founded by Bettye Franks Forbes in 1979 for participation in the re-opening celebration of the renovated James Memorial Chapel at Union Theological Seminary of New York City. Ebony has become an intergenerational ensemble passing their love of music and the message of the African American Religious Experience for 40 years, throughout the Tri-State area, the country, and abroad.

New Jersey Youth Symphony
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Founded in 1979, the New Jersey Youth Symphony (NJYS) is a tiered orchestra program that offers ensemble education for students in grades 3–12 across New Jersey. NJYS has grown from one orchestra of 65 students to more than 500 students in 15 different orchestras and ensembles, including the internationally recognized Youth Symphony. NJYS ensembles have performed at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center, Carnegie Hall, and the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

Joseph Joubert
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Joseph Joubert’s talents as a pianist, arranger, orchestrator, Broadway conductor, and music director have taken him around the world. Mr. Joubert was music supervisor and orchestrator for Classic Stage Company’s Carmen Jones starring Anika Noni Rose. His Broadway orchestration credits include The Color Purple 06-19 Juneteenth 2023 (ISA).indd 34 6/9/23 11:05 AM (Drama Desk nomination), Disaster!, Violet (Drama Desk nomination), Leap of Faith, and Caroline, or Change.

2024 Sponsors

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