Lewisville Grand Theater Reveals Juneteenth Programming

The Lewisville Grand Theater will kick off the summer season with two events commemorating Juneteeth. On Wednesday, June 14 at 7:00 p.m. the Lewisville Talks – City Speaker Series will continue with a discussion and book signing featuring Dr. Peniel Joseph, a preeminent historian of race and democracy. Joseph is the author of The Third Reconstruction: America's Struggle for Racial Justice in the Twenty-First Century which was the book award winner of 2023 Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award. The Orchestra of New Spain will celebrate the Texas roots of Juneteenth for its third year with a range of classical music and song by Black composers on Thursday, June 15 at 7:00 p.m. Tickets for both events are available for purchase online at LewisvilleGrand.com/tix.

 

Lewisville Talks – City Speaker Series: Dr. Peniel Joseph – The Third         Reconstruction 

Wednesday, June 14 | 7 p.m. 

The Lewisville Talks – City Speaker Series continues to insight curiosity and promote meaningful conversation with its next engagement featuring Dr. Peniel Joseph. As one of the preeminent historians of race and democracy, Dr. Joseph argues that the period since 2008 has marked nothing less than America's Third Reconstruction. 

In The Third Reconstruction, Dr. Joseph offers a powerful and personal new interpretation of recent history. The racial reckoning that unfolded in 2020, he argues, marked the climax of a Third Reconstruction: a new struggle for citizenship and dignity for Black Americans, just as momentous as the movements that arose after the Civil War and during the civil rights era. Joseph draws revealing connections and insights across centuries as he traces this Third Reconstruction from the election of Barack Obama to the rise of Black Lives Matter to the failed assault on the Capitol. 

 

Dr. Peniel E. Joseph is the Barbara Jordan Chair in Ethics and Political Values, Founding Director of the Center for the Study of Race and Democracy, and Associate Dean for Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion at the LBJ School of Public Affairs and Professor of History at the University of Texas at Austin. He is the author of award-winning books on African American history, including The Sword and the Shield and Stokely: A Life.  

 

This engagement will take place in the Huffines Performance. Dr. Joseph will be available to sign copies of his book following the presentation. $15 tickets as well as $25 copies of his book can be purchased at LewisvilleGrand.com/tix. All books will be available for pick-up at Will Call starting one hour prior to the event. Sales tax and fees are included in the prices. 

Celebrating Juneteenth in Music 

Thursday, June 15 | 7 p.m. 

With growing attention focused on our rich African American cultural legacy, Orchestra of New Spain celebrates the Texas roots of Juneteenth for its third year with a range of classical music and song by Black composers. The program will include works by Dallas composer Quinn Mason, Scott Joplin, Ulysses Kay, John Carter and more. Additionally, to highlight the rich vocal tradition of the Black community, the orchestra will feature celebrated soprano and versatile Dallas chorus master Alfrelynn Roberts for several traditional spirituals. 

Orchestra of New Spain is a Dallas-based professional period-instrument baroque orchestra and chorus specializing in, but not limited to, the music of Spain and its sphere of New World influence. The George Floyd era inspired Orchestra of New Spain to take advantage of their history exploring less popular music to introduce Black composers to Dallas audiences in 2021, with great success, and then expand this concert series offering more widely around the DFW Metroplex in 2022. 

The concert will take place in the Huffines Performance Hall. Tickets are $15 for reserved seating or $5 for students and can be purchased online at LewisvilleGrand.com/tix. Sales tax and ticket fees are included in prices.  

The City of Lewisville will host A Juneteenth Celebration on Friday, June 16 from 6:00-10:00 p.m. The evening will include a dance group performance and feature two local bands – Don Diego Band and Fingerprints. The free event will take place in Wayne Ferguson Plaza. For more information, visit cityoflewisville.com.  

 

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