Charleston, SC - Fresh off its third year of sold-out performances in Sacramento, the Colour of Music Festival announces its return to Charleston SC February 6-10, 2024, at historic venues showcasing leading black classical artists from the U.S., Canada, France, and Colombia South America.

The Colour of Music Festival gathers international, national, and regional classically trained Black musicians of African descent to share their musical talents, knowledge, and inspiration in Charleston each year and since 2016 has performed in leading venues including Washington, DC, Atlanta, Houston, Nashville, Pittsburgh, Richmond, Tulsa, and Sacramento.

Honoring Black History Month, the Festival will bring back its original all-female ‘Virtuosi’ to honor legendary soprano Leontyne Price who celebrates her 97th birthday February 10. Dame Shirley J. Thompson OBE will also be honored along with three of her compositions presented by the female chamber orchestra and Colour of Music Festival quintet. Dame Thompson will also be a featured guest at the Charleston Library Society on Friday, February 9.

February 2024 Colour of Music Festival Highlights

Four days of performances in intimate settings will feature a mix of vocal excellence, a piano quintet spotlight, a chamber presentation of all three violin sonatas composed by Joseph Bologne, Le Chevalier de Saint-Georges, a Charleston premiere of Grey Land, a mono-opera, composed by Joseph C. Phillips, Jr., conducted by Berlin-based conductor Brandon Keith Brown, and featuring New York-based actress and soprano, Rebecca L. Hargrove, and the Charleston premiere of Charlestonia: Folk Rhapsody by Edmund Thornton Jenkins.

What’s become a tradition, the Festival presents a vocal matinée performance with the Harlem Renaissance as its theme and will welcome patrons to a hair-raising performance by two composers who changed both the face and sound of classical music?Edmund Thornton Jenkins and George Gershwin for its Masterworks finale on February 10. Presented by the Gaillard Center, the performance will highlight Charleston’s “father of Black contributions” to classical music, Edmund Thornton Jenkins. Never-before-heard compositions include Jenkins’ South Carolina premiere of his original composition Charlestonia: Folk Rhapsody and concludes with George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue celebrating the 100th anniversary of its debut on February 12, 1924.

“The Festival’s Black history programming anchors our new season. We are beyond humbled by the Gaillard Center’s presentation of our Masterworks finale February 10 as we enjoy our recent designation as a Southern Cultural Treasure, bestowed to us in 2021,” said Lee Pringle Founder and Artistic Director, Colour of Music Festival.

COLOUR OF MUSIC FESTIVAL CALENDAR OF EVENTS FEBRUARY 6-10, 2024                 
Murray Center | Edmondston-Alston House | Festival Hall | Gaillard Center - Charleston South Carolina

Tuesday, February 6 | Edmondston-Alston House – 21 East Battery Street, Charleston
Chamber Spotlight I Piano and Violin Duo - 7:30 p.m.

Michael Jorgensen, violinist and Elizabeth G. Hill, pianist
Three sonatas for violin and piano by Chevalier de Saint Georges, Jessie Montgomery, Florence B. Price

Wednesday, February 7 | Murray Center Salon – 14 George Street, Charleston
Voice Recital I - 2 p.m.

Rebecca Hargrove, soprano and Kyle P. Walker, pianist

A Harlem Renaissance-inspired recital: Words by Langston Hughes and Mari Evans and works by Ricky Ian Gordon, Richard Thompson, Margaret Bonds, and Florence B. Price

Wednesday, February 7 | Festival Hall – 56 Beaufain Street, Charleston
Chamber Music I - 7:30 p.m.

Colour of Music Festival All-Female Chamber Orchestra

Anyango Yarbo-Davenport, conductor and violinist Featuring works by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, Claude Debussy, Astor Piazzolla, Shirley J. Thompson, Kenji Bunch, and Stephan Koncz

Thursday, February 8 | Murray Center Salon – 14 George Street, Charleston
Composer Panel Spotlight I - 2 p.m.

Edmund Thornton Jenkins?A Panel Presentation Karen Chandler, PhD. and Tuffus Zimbabwe explore Edmund Thornton Jenkins’ legacy and the Masterworks finale spotlight.

Thursday, February 8 | Festival Hall – 56 Beaufain Street, Charleston
Mono Opera I - 7:30 p.m.

Brandon Keith Brown, conductor and Rebecca L. Hargrave, soprano

Grey Land, a mono-opera, is a forward-thinking composition by Joseph C. Phillips, Jr., scored for soprano, narrator, and a musical ensemble made up of strings, woodwinds, harp, four electric guitars, electric bass, and electric piano

Friday, February 9 | Charleston Library Society – 164 King Street, Charleston
Composer Spotlight I Black British Female Classical Luminary - 2 p.m.

Christopher Brooks, PhD. and Dame Shirley J. Thompson, OBE
Exploring Dame Shirley Thompson’s extraordinary career as a composer, conductor, and producer

Friday, February 9 | Murray Center Salon – 14 George Street, Charleston
Colour of Music Festival Quintet I - 7:30 p.m.

Romuald Grimbert-Barré and Ashley Horne, violin, Caleb Georges, viola, Kenneth Law, cello and Kyle P. Walker, piano
Works by Samuel Coleridge Taylor, Robert Schumann, and Shirley J. Thompson

Saturday, February 10 | Gaillard Center – 95 Calhoun Street, Charleston
MASTERWORKS I Colour of Music Festival Orchestra Finale - 7:30 p.m.

Leslie B. Dunner, guest conductor, Clayton Stephenson, piano
Works by Chevalier de Saint-Georges, Edmund Thornton Jenkins, and George Gershwin

Colour of Music Festival Tickets and Information: $15-$52

By phone: (888) 512-9835
Online: colourofmusic.org
At door: (credit card, cash, or check) before each performance