Nkeiru Okoye

Nkeiru Okoye {{IPAc-en||audio=Ig-Nkeiru Okoye.ogg}} (born July 18, 1972) is an American composer and musician. She has composed many works based on American history, including Harriet Tubman: When I Crossed That Line to Freedom, Invitation to a Die-In and "The Journey of Phillis Wheatley".

Biography

Nkeiru Okoye was born on July 18, 1972, and grew up in New York.{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/29/nyregion/a-ride-on-the-underground-railroad-at-hofstra-recalls-harriet-tubman.html|title='A Ride on the Underground Railroad,' at Hofstra, Recalls Harriet Tubman|last=Lipson|first=Karin|date=2012-01-27|work=The New York Times|access-date=2019-12-10|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/worldofwomenincl00gray/page/214|title=The World of Women in Classical Music|last=Gray|first=Anne|date=2007|publisher=WordWorld|isbn=978-1-59975-320-1|location=La Jolla, Calif.|pages=[https://archive.org/details/worldofwomenincl00gray/page/214 214-215]|oclc=123539910}} Her mother is African American and her father was Nigerian, a member of the Igbo ethnic group.{{Cite web|url=https://www.nkeiruokoye.com/faq|title = FAQ}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/40332487/the_boston_globe/|title=A Pioneer's Struggle Inspires a Sound|last=Dyer|first=Richard|date=2005-07-17|work=The Boston Globe|access-date=2019-12-09|pages=203|via=Newspapers.com}} During her childhood, she spent time in both the United States and Nigeria. Okoye learned to play piano at age 8 and began writing music at age 13.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/40319955/the_baltimore_sun/|title=Is This How It Was With Mozart?|last=McNatt|first=Glenn|date=2006-09-03|work=The Baltimore Sun|access-date=2019-12-09|pages=F3|via=Newspapers.com}} Okoye went to the Preparatory Division of the Manhattan School of Music.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pQt2ELdxAFMC&q=%22from%20spirituals%20to%20symphonies%22&pg=PA42|title=From Spirituals to Symphonies: African-American Women Composers and Their Music|last=Walker-Hill|first=Helen|publisher=University of Illinois Press|year=2007|isbn=978-0-252-07454-7|location=Urbana|pages=42–43|language=en}} When her parents separated, Okoye and her older sister lived with their mother on Long Island. She attended Oberlin Conservatory of Music for her undergraduate work, graduating in 1993. She then went on to Rutgers University to study with her mentor, Noel Da Costa.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/40332912/the_central_new_jersey_home_news/|title=Following Her Muse|last=Kaimann|first=Frederick|date=1999-02-19|work=The Central New Jersey Home News|access-date=2019-12-09|pages=75|via=Newspapers.com}} For a premiere at Rutgers in 1999, she conducted her composition, "The Creation", with Danny Glover narrating key parts of the work.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/40332156/the_central_new_jersey_home_news/|title=Actor Glover Takes the Lead in RU Student's Premiere|last=Kaimann|first=Frederick|date=1999-02-22|work=The Central New Jersey Home News|access-date=2019-12-09|pages=18|via=Newspapers.com}}

Work

Okoye penned her best known Voices Shouting Out in 2002. It was commissioned by Maestro Wes Kenney and the Virginia Symphony Orchestra.

In 2005, Okoye collaborated with Carolivia Herron to write a narrated work for orchestra based on the life of Phillis Wheatley called The Journey of Phillis Wheatle. Okoye used some Ghanaian influence in the work.

In 2014, Okoye's Harriet Tubman: When I Crossed That Line to Freedom was premiered by American Opera Projects. The opera looks at the life of enslaved Africans living in plantations in the South, Harriet Tubman and the music of the time period.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/40331732/the_baltimore_sun/|title=Tubman's Story of Bravery Set to Music|last=Fisher|first=Harold|date=2008-02-03|work=The Baltimore Sun|access-date=2019-12-09|pages=T16|via=Newspapers.com}}{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=e-FdDwAAQBAJ&q=%22invitation%20to%20a%20die-in%22%20okoye&pg=PT29|title=Black Opera: History, Power, Engagement|last=Andre|first=Naomi|publisher=University of Illinois Press|year=2018|isbn=978-0-252-05061-9|location=Urbana|language=en}} Okoye received a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts to help her complete the work.{{Cite web|url=https://www.recordonline.com/article/20130107/NEWS/301070330|title=SUNY New Paltz professor's opera hails historical figure|last=Horrigan|first=Jeremiah|date=7 January 2013|website=Times Herald-Record|language=en|access-date=2019-12-10}} Her opera not only highlights the life of Tubman, but also of others such as William Still and Samuel Green. Okoye said about choosing Tubman as a subject: "I wanted to write an opera about a woman who did great things and survived."{{Cite news|url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=n5h&AN=2W62539029779&site=ehost-live|title=Riding the Underground Railroad by Song|last=Parks|first=Steve|date=3 February 2012|work=Newsday|access-date=10 December 2019|via=EBSCOhost|url-access=subscription}} The opera includes her 2006 stand-alone song cycle, "Songs of Harriet Tubman".

Her work, Invitation to a Die-In (2017) was commissioned and premiered by conductor Ng Tian Hui and the Mount Holyoke Symphony Orchestra. A second performance was with the University City Symphony Orchestra in 2018.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/40371672/|title=University City Symphony Orchestra|date=23 February 2018|work=St. Louis Post-Dispatch|access-date=10 December 2019|via=Newspapers.com}} Invitation to a Die-In was a commission in memory of Trayvon Martin and other young black men who have lost their lives to violence. The text for Invitation was written by David Cote and the performance of the work includes percussion imitating gunshots and members of the orchestra falling over as if they had been hit.{{Cite web|url=https://www.stltoday.com/entertainment/arts-and-theatre/culture-club/university-city-symphony-orchestra-takes-on-invitation-to-a-die/article_888c9d27-44e4-5a7c-ae3f-27368aade2d5.html|title=University City Symphony Orchestra takes on 'Invitation to a Die-In'|last=Bryan Miller|first=Sarah|date=23 February 2018|website=St. Louis Post-Dispatch|language=en|access-date=2019-12-10}}

For the 250th anniversary of the founding of Charlotte, North Carolina, the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra commissioned Okoye to write an orchestral work to commemorate the city's history.{{Cite news|url=https://www.charlotteobserver.com/entertainment/arts-culture/article218412960.html|title=250 years in 12 minutes? Composer tries to capture Charlotte history in piece for Symphony|last=Toppman|first=Lawrence|date=14 September 2018|work=The Charlotte Observer|access-date=10 December 2019}} The piece, reflecting the diversity of the history of the city, is 12 minutes long and called Charlotte Mecklenburg. Charlotte Mecklenburg also holds a reference to a victim of police violence, with the percussion section of the work referencing Keith Lamont Scott.{{Cite news|url=https://www.charlotteobserver.com/entertainment/arts-culture/article229169669.html|title=Review: Charlotte Symphony Orchestra plays two composers, but only one genius|last=Toppman|first=Lawrence|date=13 April 2019|work=The Charlotte Observer|access-date=10 December 2019}}

Find more on her work through the Theodore Presser.{{cite web | url=https://www.presser.com/catalogsearch/result/?q=nkeiru+okoye | title=Search results for: 'nkeiru okoye' }}

She is currently on the Board of Advisors for Composers Now!.{{Cite web |title=Boards - Composers Now |url=https://www.composersnow.org/cn/about/boards/ |access-date=2023-01-28 |website=www.composersnow.org}}

= Awards =

In 2020, Okoye was the inaugural recipient of the Florence Price Award for Composition.{{Cite web |title=Announcing the Winners of the 2020 Price Awards |url=https://www.pricefest.org/blog/2020/8/16/announcing-the-winners-of-the-2020-price-awards |access-date=2023-01-28 |website=International Florence Price Festival |date=August 16, 2020 |language=en-US}} Okoye was named a Guggenheim Fellow in 2021 for her works in musical composition.{{Cite web |title=Nkeiru Okoye |url=https://www.gf.org/fellows/all-fellows/nkeiru-okoye/ |access-date=2023-01-28 |website=John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation |language=en-US}}

Okoye was named composer of the month in February 2024. {{Cite web | title=Theodore Front Musical Literature, Classical Sheet Music, Popular Sheet Music | url=https://www.tfront.com/ | access-date=2025-04-27 | website=www.tfront.com}}