Photo by Ally Schmaling
The ICA is offering FREE museum admission for all on Juneteenth, Wednesday, June 19. Plus, for this year’s freedom celebration, we’re collaborating with longstanding partner Jazz Urbane Cafe for live performances by Anabel Gil Diaz and Samuel Batista.
Advanced tickets are required for gallery visits and will be available to reserve beginning on Tuesday, June 18 at 10 AM. Admission to Hew Locke: The Procession at the Watershed in East Boston is always FREE—tickets are not required for entrance. Timed tickets are required to board the ICA Water Shuttle boats and will be available on Tuesday, June 18 at 10 AM. Water Shuttle tickets include general admission to the ICA in the Seaport.
Join us for a day of celebratory programming spotlighting Black lives, liberation, and imagination.
Jazz Urbane Cafe + ICA present Anabel Gil Diaz and Samuel Batista | 12–4 PM
Panamanian saxophonist, composer, and educator Samuel Batista mixes Panamanian folkloric and urban music with jazz. Graduating from Berklee College of Music in 2018 with a dual degree in Jazz Composition and Performance, Batista taught private lessons at The New England Conservatory for The Preparatory Jazz School and the Continuing Education Program. His debut album, Panama United, was produced by pianist Alain Mallet and premiered during the 19th edition of the Panama Jazz Festival along with his “Panamanian Sextet.” After graduating from the Berklee Global Jazz Institute master’s program, Batista has been living in Boston while working on his upcoming album Rising to Love.
Anabel Gil Diaz is a Cuban-Spanish multi-instrumentalist, composer, producer, and educator passionate about fostering talent and creating memorable learning experiences. Diaz has directed and produced various musical projects, instilling the love of music and performance in people’s hearts. During her stay in the United States, she has earned two consecutive full-ride scholarships, one to attend Berklee College of Music, where she earned her bachelor’s degree in Jazz and Film and Video Games Scoring; and her second to complete her Master’s studies at the Longy School of Music of Bard College. In 2023, Anabel Gil Diaz participated as session flautist of the album titled “New Jazz Standards Vol. 1” by Terri-Lyne Carrington, winner of a Grammy Award. She is currently Principal Flautist of the Du Bois Symphony Orchestra, Guest Flautist Soloist of the Chicago Jazz Philharmonic Orchestra and Landmarks Orchestra, Flautist of Imagine Orchestra for Jazz Urbane Company, and Session Flautist for the Harvard Composers Association and Berklee College’s SSP.
Jazz Urbane Cafe is a vibrant new venue, opening soon in Nubian Square, blending performing arts and local cuisine in celebration of Boston’s musical history—past, present, and future.
On View
See Hew Locke: The Procession at the ICA Watershed in East Boston!
Also currently on view at the ICA:
About Juneteenth
Juneteenth marks the historic day of June 19, 1865, when Union General Gordon Granger read federal orders declaring freedom for all previously enslaved people in Texas—more than two years after President Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation. Through grassroots efforts, Black people in Texas reclaimed June 19 from a day of unheeded military orders as the first celebration of “Juneteenth” a year later in 1866, and it continues as a celebration of Black liberation across the country. It’s a day of remembrance, resilience, and joy as Black communities come together to honor their history and continue the fight for liberation. To learn more, see “What Is Juneteenth?” by Henry Louis Gates, Jr.