Neighbor News
Black History Month Concert Features Singing, Instrumentals and Poetry
St. Stephen's Church brings New York City-based instrumentalists, vocalists and a poet to Ridgefield on February 28.
St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church in Ridgefield presents its annual Black History Month concert Saturday, February 28, at 6 p.m. It will feature a quartet of vocalists, plus instrumentalists and poetry. Music genres will range from funk to gospel and soul to jazz. The church is located at 353 Main St.
Vocalist Saniyyah Bamberg, a recent graduate of the Julliard opera department, is a multifaceted singer and actress. Two other vocalists, Katie Oberholtzer and Nathan Farrell, are nationally known jazz, contemporary, funk and soul singers; they respectively won second and third place in the National Ella Fitzgerald Competition in 2023. Farrell is also on tour with Christian McBride, who is considered one of the top bassists of his generation.
The fourth member of the quartet is Alexander Wright, a New York City-based vocalist, writer and music director who curated the concert. Raised in an ancestral and musical tradition, Wright uses his lineage and ancestry to connect to the deepest roots of music and storytelling to encapsulate the journey of African Americans in this country. "Alexander Wright has offered up his musical talent several times at St. Stephen's Church,” said the Rev. Whitney Altopp, St. Stephen’s rector. “He always delivers a memorable concert with immense talent. We are delighted to have him back.”
The instrumentalists—saxophonist, bassist, drummer and pianist—are well known throughout the New York City music scene. As the evening unfolds, poet Maya Imani Jones will tie the concert together with a delivery on the historical and chronological journey that the music will take us. Her debut poetry collection, Benediction, was published last year. The concert will end with selections honoring legendary American composer and gospel music great Richard Smallwood, who died in 2025. The suggested donation is $20.
