Story perspectives

Angel Blue Leads Premiere of Jenkins’s Reconstructed Ballet

8/23/2026

Summary

Story summary

Chineke! premiered Edmund Thornton Jenkins’s 1918 three-movement Ballet, reconstructed by his great-nephew Tuffus Zimbabwe.
Conductor Jonathon Heyward led the orchestra, shaping the performance’s momentum.
Soprano Angel Blue opened the first half with Barber’s Knoxville: Summer of 1915.
A Margaret Bonds song was omitted from the programme despite earlier inclusion.
Angel Blue later sang four Great American Songbook standards, including My Funny Valentine.

History

Historical Context

In 1918 Edmund Thornton Jenkins premiered a three-movement ballet after winning the Royal Academy of Music’s Charles Lucas and Battison Haynes composition prizes that year. His London training (RAM scholarship 1915-17) and work in theatre orchestras marked an early breakthrough for Black composers. The 2023 Chineke! revival, led by conductor Jonathon Heyward, reflects growing institutional support for such historically overlooked works.

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Story summary

Chineke! premiered Edmund Thornton Jenkins’s 1918 three-movement Ballet, reconstructed by his great-nephew Tuffus Zimbabwe.
Conductor Jonathon Heyward led the orchestra, shaping the performance’s momentum.
Soprano Angel Blue opened the first half with Barber’s Knoxville: Summer of 1915.
A Margaret Bonds song was omitted from the programme despite earlier inclusion.
Angel Blue later sang four Great American Songbook standards, including My Funny Valentine.

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