SANKOFA // Songs of Resilience and Hope
Honouring Black Joy and Liberation
June 6 Saturday
7:30 PM | the ANNEX
823 Seymour Street, Vancouver
TICKETS HERE
Rooted in the Akan concept from Ghana, Sankofa, literally ‘to go back and fetch it’, teaches that the past is a necessary foundation for a meaningful future. This performance serves as a musical conversation between the audience and an exceptional assembly of artists, including the singers of musica intima, Dawn Pemberton, with her frequent local collaborators Michael Creber (piano) and Raphael Geronimo (percussion).
musica intima is honoured to partner with the renowned Vancouver vocalist and director Dawn Pemberton for her evocative new curation, SANKOFA. Known as the ‘New Queen of Canadian Soul’, Pemberton joins forces with one of Canada’s most celebrated vocal ensembles to present an evening that transcends traditional performance, offering a profound musical inquiry into heritage and community.
Through this intentional curation, Pemberton maps the profound choral lineage of the African Diasporas around the world, weaving their expansive traditions into the specific, living histories of Vancouver’s own African-descended communities. By centering the lived experiences and testimonies of local Elders, the program creates a sacred intersection of song and story.
The resulting collaboration between musica intima and Pemberton serves as a testament to cultural endurance and creative brilliance. As Pemberton eloquently describes, the concert is an act of ‘paying homage to those who created their own medicine with the tools they had and were allowed to use’.
Please join us for this significant cultural event. Come celebrate the enduring power of choral legacy and community.
