African American Composers: An Evening of Jazz, Spirituals and More

A peaceful and enlightening evening of music, stories and friendship celebrating Black History Month African American Composers: An Evening of Jazz, Spirituals and More Saturday, February 28, 2026 at 7pm Members of the Metropolitan Opera and Jazz at Lincoln Center visit Queens for an evening of jazz, opera, spirituals and more. A peaceful and enlightening evening of music, stories and friendship for the mind and soul featuring Denisha Ballew (vocals), Alphonse Horne (trumpet) and Jon Thomas (piano). Artists: Denisha Ballew, vocals Alphonso Horne, trumpet Jon Thomas, piano Program: TBA About Musica Reginae Productions: Founded in 2000, Musica Reginae Productions (MRP) brings innovative programming and world-renowned artists to concert spaces in Queens, the most ethnically diverse county in the world. MRP’s mission is to be “Your natural choice for fine music in Queens.” MRP produces affordable, informative, and family friendly concerts featuring music that draws its inspiration from the classical, chamber, opera, jazz and world music literature. Our concerts provide a venue for talented and exciting young and established artists and we have become increasingly devoted to presenting new music by emerging composers, particularly those who have an affiliation with NYC and with our home borough of Queens. MRP fulfills its educational outreach mission with its Community Concerts for Kids, a free interactive, educational series for children and families ages 4 and up, led by teaching artists Beata Moon and MRP Artistic Director Barbara Podgurski. In addition, our artists perform at several public events every year including the 9/11 ceremonies in lower Manhattan and have also performed for Pope Francis during his Papal Visit of 2015. MRP is able to present top-notch performances each season because of the support it receives from individual and corporate sponsors in addition to partial funding from the Department of Cultural Affairs, the New York State Council on the Arts and NYC & Co. For more information about our current season and to learn about all the concerts, educational childrens programming and the Musica Reginae Youth Chamber Ensemble (MRYCE) that are part of who we are and what we do in our Queens communities, please visit musicareginae.org and like/follow us on Instagram and Facebook.

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