Returning to the Charleston concert stage after sold-out performances in 2025, the Colour of Music Festival performs Feb. 4-7, 2026, at historic Charleston venues showcasing leading black classical artists from the U.S., Canada, France, and South America.
The Colour of Music Festival gathers international, national, and regional classically trained Black musicians of African descent to share their musical talents, knowledge, and inspiration in Charleston each year and since 2016 has performed in leading venues including Washington, DC, Atlanta, Houston, Nashville, New York City, Pittsburgh, Richmond, Tulsa, and Sacramento.
Honoring Black History Month, the four-day Festival will spotlight chamber music offerings featuring Charleston premieres with a focus on strings and wind ensembles.
February 2026 Colour of Music Festival Highlights
Highlights include a voice recital with DeAndre Simmons, bass February 4 with the evening featuring violinists Anyango Yarbo-Davenport and Romuald Grimbert-Barré. Music of Joseph Bologne, Le Chevalier de Saint-Georges is on tap February 5, a chamber spotlight with the Colour of Music Festival woodwind quintet February 6, and a grand evening of strings Saturday, February 7.
“The Festival’s Black history programming launches our new season. We are honored to present a multitude of classical gems once again in a region that values the arts in all its diversity as we also enjoy our designation as a Southern Cultural Treasure,” said Lee Pringle Founder and Artistic Director, Colour of Music Festival.
COLOUR OF MUSIC FESTIVAL CALENDAR OF EVENTS FEBRUARY 4-7, 2026
Murray Center Salon | Edmondston-Alston House | Saint Marks Episcopal Church | Charleston Library Society | First Scots Presbyterian Church
Wednesday, February 4 | Murray Center Salon – 14 George St, Charleston
Voice Recital • 2 p.m.
DeAndre Simmons, bass and Elizabeth Hill, piano
Johannes Brahms Vier ernste Gesänge (Four Serious Songs), Op.121, Aaron Copland’s Old American Songs, Hall Johnson’s, Honor, Honor, Duke Ellington’s Come Sunday and featuring Festival colleagues performing Samuel Barber’s Dover Beach for Voice and String Quintet.
Wednesday, February 4 | Edmondston-Alston House – 21 East Battery St, Charleston
Chamber I Violin Duo and Octet Chamber Setting • 7 p.m.
Performance by German-born violinist Anyango Yarbo-Davenport and Paris-based Romuald Grimbert-Barré features Johann Sebastian Bach's Concerto for Two Violins in D minor and Felix Mendelssohn’s String Octet in E-flat major, Op. 20.
Thursday, February 5 | Murray Center Salon – 14 George St, Charleston
Piano Recital • 2 p.m.
Jasmine S. Ogiste, piano
Francis Poulenc’s Les Soirées des Nazelles, Felix Mendelssohn’s Variations sérieuses, Op. 54, Adolphus Hailstork’s Five Friends: Suite for Piano with Festival colleagues performing Florence B. Price’s Three Negro Spirituals.
Thursday, February 5 | Charleston Library Society– 164 King St, Charleston
Chamber II Quartet & Quintet Spotlight I Piano and Wind • 7 p.m.
Honoring the father of Black classical music, Joseph Bologne, Le Chevalier de Saint-Georges, featuring the Charleston premiere of his Sonata for Two Violins in B-flat Major and Quartet No. 4 in C minor, Op. 1, and Robert Schumann’s Piano Quintet in E-flat major, Op. 44.
Friday, February 6 | Murray Center Salon – 14 George St, Charleston
Woodwind Quintet I Bassoon • 7 p.m.
Led by bassoonist Eddie Sanders III, works include Mozart's Wind Quintet for Piano and Winds, Samuel Barber’s Summer Music for Flute, Oboe, Clarinet, Bassoon, and Horn, Op. 3, Édouard Du Puy’s Quintet in A Minor for Bassoon and String Quartet and Valerie Coleman’s Red Clay and Mississippi Delta.
Saturday, February 7 | First Scots Presbyterian Church – 53 Meeting St, Charleston
Organ Recital • 12 p.m.
Anthony Williams, organist
Works include Samuel Coleridge-Taylor’s Impromptu in F Major, Op. 78, No. 1, César Franck’s Pièce Héroîque, Adolphus Hailstork’s Adagio and Fugue in F Minor, and Ralph Simpson’s Two Spirituals, Jacob's Ladder, Swing Low, Sweet Chariot.
Saturday, February 7 | St. Marks Episcopal Church – 16 Thomas St, Charleston
Colour of Music Festival Finale • 7 p.m.
The Festival closes Saturday, February 7 with the Charleston premiere of Vivaldi’s Concerto for Two Cellos and an encore of Mendelssohn’s String Octet in E-flat Major, Op. 20.
2026 Colour of Music Festival Tickets and Information: $15-$38
By phone: (888) 512-9835
Online: colourofmusic.org
At door: (credit card, cash, or check) before each performance
The Colour of Music Festival gratefully acknowledges the support of the National Endowment for the Arts
Colour of Music Festival was named one of South Arts’ Southern Cultural Treasures, a program made possible with support from the Ford Foundation and the Alice L. Walton Foundation and Support from South Carolina Arts Commission, The City of Charleston, and Charleston County