San Francisco Symphony Collaborative Partner Julia Bullock shares History’s Persistent Voice, her original and ever-developing program, which highlights the words, work, and experiences of Black American artists. In this mixed media concert, voices spanning across generations who were enslaved through the 1860s are heard alongside those who lived through years of convict leasing, share cropping, Jim Crow, and mass incarceration.

Curated and performed by Julia Bullock, with Christian Reif conducting the San Francisco Symphony, and visual art installations designed by Hana S. Kim, History’s Persistent Voice features all-new commissioned music by an esteemed roster of American women of color, including Jessie Montgomery, Carolyn Yarnell, Allison Loggins-Hull, Pamela Z, and Tania León.

Although cycles of violence, oppression, and demoralization are ongoing, for these artists it’s clear how various forms of human expression can facilitate some manifestation of liberation and freedom.