EJI Brings Grammy Award-Winning Artists to Montgomery for Juneteenth

This Juneteenth, EJI will bring Grammy Award-winning artists to Montgomery, with three concerts happening downtown on June 18 and 19.

We are also offering free admission to the Legacy Sites on June 19.

Wednesday, June 18

On Wednesday, June 18, at 7:30 PM, gospel music legends Yolanda Adams and Donald Lawrence and Company will perform at the Montgomery Performing Arts Center. Ms. Adams and Mr. Lawrence both have received numerous Grammy Awards. Tickets to Wednesday night’s gospel concert are on sale now.

Thursday, June 19

9 AM to 6 PM — Free admission to the Legacy Sites

On Juneteenth, EJI will offer free admission to the Legacy Sites—the Legacy Museum, the National Memorial for Peace and Justice, and Freedom Monument Sculpture Park. Open all day on June 19, the Legacy Sites offer visitors an immersive journey through American History. Learn more and plan your visit.

12 PM — Jason Ferdinand & The Jason Max Ferdinand Singers

To celebrate the meaning of Juneteenth, a free musical performance by Jason Max Ferdinand and his choir, the Jason Max Ferdinand Singers, will take place at 12 noon at the Peace and Justice Memorial Center in Montgomery. The uplifting celebration will also feature remarks about the importance of Juneteenth. This event is free and open to the public.

8 PM — Juneteenth Celebration: A Night of Jazz

Grammy Award winning artists Cécile McLorin Salvant and Terence Blanchard will complete our Juneteenth celebrations with a jazz concert on Thursday, June 19, at 8 PM at the Peace and Justice Memorial Center in Montgomery. The night of jazz will mark the end of two days of uplifting celebration, artistry, and education. Tickets to the jazz concert are on sale now.

About the Artists

Yolanda Adams

Yolanda Adams is a powerhouse of contemporary gospel music who has touched the hearts and souls of millions around the world. She has sold over 10 million albums worldwide and garnered numerous accolades, including four Grammy Awards, 16 Stellar Awards, and seven NAACP Image Awards. She made history as the first gospel artist to win the Grammy Award for Best Gospel Song and the American Music Award. In 2016, President Barack Obama honored her with the Presidential Lifetime Achievement Award for her volunteer service, and in 2017, she was inducted into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame.

Donald Lawrence

Donald Lawrence is the man who wears many musical colors. Those seven words eloquently capture the multifaceted essence of Donald Lawrence. Songwriter. Producer. Composer. Music/choir director. Recording artist. The guiding force behind such No. 1 hits as “Encourage Yourself,” “Back II Eden,” and “The Blessing of Abraham.” Equally at home in both the inspirational and contemporary arenas, the multiple Grammy and Stellar Award winner has collaborated with a diverse roster, including such marquee names as Karen Clark Sheard, Donnie McClurkin, Kirk Franklin, En Vogue, and Mary J. Blige.

Jason Ferdinand

Jason Ferdinand is the founding artistic director of The Jason Max Ferdinand Singers: An Ensemble of Exceptional Talents, and is director of choral activities and professor at the University of Maryland. He is a published author and composer with GIA Publications, featuring the book Teaching with Heart: Tools for Addressing Societal Challenges Through Music, and The Jason Max Ferdinand Choral Series (Walton Music).

Cécile McLorin Salvant

Cécile McLorin Salvant is a composer, singer, and visual artist. She has developed a passion for storytelling and finding the connections between vaudeville, blues, theater, jazz, baroque, and folkloric music. Ms. Salvant is an eclectic curator, unearthing rarely recorded, forgotten songs with strong narratives, interesting power dynamics, unexpected twists, and humor. She won the Thelonious Monk competition in 2010 and received three consecutive Grammy Awards for Best Jazz Vocal Album for “The Window,” “Dreams and Daggers,” and “For One To Love,” and was nominated for the award in 2014 for her album, “WomanChild.”

Terence Blanchard

Terence Blanchard has been a consistent artistic force for making powerful musical statements concerning painful American tragedies past and present. A true Renaissance man, he stands tall as one of jazz’s most esteemed trumpeters and defies expectations by creating a spectrum of artistic pursuits. Boundary-breaking and genre-defying, Mr. Blanchard is recognized globally as a dazzling soloist and a prolific composer for film, television, opera, Broadway, orchestras, and for his own ensembles. An eight-time Grammy Winner and twice Oscar-nominated film composer, Mr. Blanchard became only the second African American composer to be nominated twice in the original score category at the 2022 Academy Awards, duplicating Quincy Jones’s feat from 1967’s In Cold Blood and 1985’s The Color Purple.