Always, Already There: Words like Freedom

This sequence includes Shawn Okpebholo’s settings of Langston Hughes, exploring themes of racial injustice, hope and humanity, and Jamaican composer Mikhail Johnson’s Praise to the Jamaican Mother of Art, which presents the First Mother as an enslaved African, whose art came out of unspeakable circumstances, unsigned, unknown, and expands this to comment on the exploitation of artists today.

Storytelling is a major element of Afrodiasporic heritage. As Allyson Devenish writes: ‘The title of the festival – Always, Already There – is the perfect jumping off point for our offering. We have been here, forever. We have always been telling stories, reflecting on our history, heritage, culture and being'.










Produced by the Barbican in partnership with the Guildhall School of Music & Drama.

Part of Always, Already There Weekender.

Always, Already There has received generous support from SHM Foundation, Ernst von Siemens Music Foundation and Trevor Fenwick & Jane Hindley.

Barbican Classical Music Programme receives major support from Marcus Margulies and additional support In Memory of John Murray.





Programme







Performers