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Jubilee Voices

Music / Sound, Performance

Washington Revels Jubilee Voices is our most in-demand vocal ensemble. Performing across the D.C. metropolitan area, it celebrates African American history & traditions via unique programs of a cappella music, spoken word, instrumental music & dance.

About the Artist

The Washington Revels Jubilee Voices, our most in-demand vocal ensemble, performs throughout the Washington D.C. metropolitan area, preserving African American history and traditions through unique programs that infuse history with a cappella music, spoken word, and instrumental music and dance. With more than a decade of performances at community events, historic sites, national landmarks, museums, and more, the group has developed a range of programming that not only focuses on general topics related to African American history but can also be tailored to highlight local and regional history. Founded in 2010 as part of the Washington Revels’ initiative to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Civil War, Jubilee Voices has expanded its repertoire to include the post-Civil War, Reconstruction and Civil Rights Movement eras, all while tracing the music of these historic events back to the shouts, hollers, spirituals and chants sung by African Americans during the antebellum period. With more than a decade of performances at community events, historic sites, national landmarks, museums, and more, the group has developed a range of programming that not only focuses on general topics related to African American history but can also be tailored to highlight local and regional history. Jubilee Voices has been featured at multiple themed events such as Montgomery Heritage Days (2013, 2023); annual events for the City of Alexandria and the National Park Service (2013-2025); and opportunities, mostly grant supported, that have brought Jubilee Voices programming to Frederick (New Spire Arts, 2020); Catonsville (Benjamin Banneker Colonial Fair, 2017-2018); and St. Simons Island, Ga (2023), in collaboration with Mercer University.

Jubilee Voices website Jubilee Voices

Artist's Statement

Jubilee Voices has been featured at multiple themed events such as Montgomery Heritage Days (2013, 2023); annual events for the City of Alexandria and the National Park Service (2013-2025); and opportunities, mostly grant supported, that have brought Jubilee Voices programming to Frederick (New Spire Arts, 2020); Catonsville (Benjamin Banneker Colonial Fair, 2017-2018); and St. Simons Island, Ga (2023), in collaboration with Mercer University. The mission of Jubilee Voices is to preserve traditional African American music and culture through interactive programming. Our goals are to 1) increase awareness of how music aided African Americans in their survival and their quest for equality and freedom; 2) amplify the role of African American history as part of American history; 3) promote the unifying power of music and tradition; and 4) connect with communities who lack access to the performing arts. Being part of the MSAC Performing Artist Touring Roster will help make Jubilee Voices more accessible to a greater number of communities, which in turn, aids our music and cultural preservation goals. Our repertoire focuses on the early forms of Black music that gave birth to modern gospel, country, blues, soul, jazz and hip-hop. Our members, ages 19 to 94, are professional and amateur performers whose love for African American history and culture is at the heart of our performances.

Featured Work

Photos

Listing of Jubilee Voices activities during 2025 Black History Month

Videos

Written Works

Booking

Booking Price: > $5,000

Toni Goldberg is the booking contact - JVBooking@revelsdc.org

Depending on the performance requirements, Jubilee Voices fees range from $1,200 to $9,000.

Developing our programs is a collaborative process. We work with the requesting organization to determine themes, music and program focus. Depending on the request, programs with a general focus (such as a general Black History Month concert) can be built from a Jubilee Voices general script and can be customized to fit the event’s needs. In other cases, in-depth local research and script creation is needed. An example is, our 2024 Alexandria Juneteenth Concert, which celebrated well-known African American historical figures with local ties. The result was a program that honored 1) Josiah Henson, whose freedom story inspired the novel “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” and his descendant, Alexandria community leader James E. Henson; 2) the 1848 schooner Pearl incident, the largest recorded escape attempt by the enslaved, linked to a statue in Alexandria honoring Emily and Mary Edmonson, who were captured and held captive by Alexandria slave traders when the escape failed; and 3) Harriet Jacobs, author of Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, whose experiences during her quest for freedom led her to work as an humanitarian aid worker serving “contrabands” and freedmen in Alexandria during the Civil War.

On the logistics side, after assessing the programming needs for a tour, key staff create an event proposal for the client stating all of the logistical needs from both parties for the event. Upon acceptance of the proposal, the performer and staff roster for the event is created, and any additional rehearsals needed are scheduled.

Jubilee Voices is an incredibly flexible group to host. From a stage production perspective, we require appropriate sound enforcement for the space and time for a sound check before audience access to the space, a safe (ideally flat) floor or ground, and a designated place to perform where the audience can see us. With our costumed shows, we also provide period appropriate props as needed for our performers. For concert dress/contemporary shows, chairs are to be provided by the venue. An average Jubilee Voices event includes 3 microphones, a music stand or podium, basic stage illumination, and 3-5 chairs. There is no set minimum or maximum stage space required, though we expect a safe and reasonable square footage for the number of performers booked. We would not anticipate a playing space smaller than 12’x16’ in most circumstances but can accommodate as needed within reason. If the selected program includes ring shouts or other pieces where a walking stick is expected to keep beat, that has to be acceptable on the designated performance flooring.

In the absence of a program for which we would provide copy, we request the ability to provide a flyer for the audience to take home. There is an expectation of communication between the event coordinator and our on-site Stage Manager to start and end the performance successfully.

Backstage, we require a reasonably accessible dressing room/green room appropriate for the size of our group, reasonably accessible restrooms, and a lockable space for the performers’ belongings during the performance. At events in non-theatrical facilities, appropriate spaces have included catering kitchens, repurposed classrooms, and personal offices. If booked for an outdoor event, there must be appropriate coverage from the weather in our performance space, whether that be a tent or permanent structure. At all events, the average temperature of the backstage spaces should be between 67- and 75-degrees Fahrenheit, and if the performance is outdoors in a non-climate-controlled area, performers should be able to come and go right before and after the performance in inclement, very cold, or very hot weather. Snacks and drinks are to be provided by the client for contracts 4 hours and under, and a full meal is added for contracts beyond four hours.

Jubilee Voices performs outdoors at historic sites, in small spaces like meeting rooms at local libraries, on stages with seating for hundreds, and everywhere in between.