A two-time Grammy-winning choral ensemble from Los Angeles is heading to Mission Valley next month, bringing with it a musical tribute to Ahmaud Arbery that was shaped in part by his own mother. The Sankofa Choral Festival runs November 7-8 at First United Methodist Church of San Diego, pairing a concert by the ensemble Tonality with a second program spotlighting music by Black composers, performed by the church's own choirs.
According to KPBS, the festival opens Saturday, November 7, at 4 p.m. with Tonality performing America Will Be inside the FUMCSD sanctuary at 2111 Camino del Rio South. The Los Angeles ensemble, which includes 16 vocalists joined by instrumentalists and soloists, is directed by Dr. Alexander Lloyd Blake. Tickets range from $5 to $60 and can be purchased online in advance or at the door, with the event open to all ages.
The following day, the Sankofa Celebration Concert takes the same stage at 4 p.m., also conducted by Blake, featuring FUMCSD's Masterwork Chorale and Chancel Choir performing music by Black composers. That program wraps with a reception in Linder Lounge, per the station's report.
A Tribute Shaped by Arbery's Mother
The emotional center of the weekend is Running From, Running To: A Musical Reflection on Ahmaud Arbery, an eight-part suite co-written by Blake and collaborator Ogi that premiered in 2025 at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts, according to the same account. The piece honors Arbery following his 2020 murder in Georgia, and Arbery's mother, Wanda Cooper-Jones, contributed spoken texts to one movement and provided personal background that shaped the work, according to WFMT.
The suite now appears on Tonality's album Songs of Remembering, released February 27, 2026, four days after the sixth anniversary of Arbery's death, by Bright Shiny Things, which combines Blake's eight-part work with new arrangements of traditional spirituals, WFMT reports. The February 2026 release features Tonality performing alongside the Los Angeles orchestral ensemble Wild Up, Grammy-winning soprano Angel Blue, and bass-baritone Jamal M. Moore, according to Bright Shiny Things.
A Decade of Music as Social Dialogue
Tonality has used music to tell stories for ten years, per KPBS, and its résumé reflects that mission. The group earned its first Grammy Award in February 2024 in the Best New Age, Ambient, or Chant Album category for its work on composer Carla Patullo's album So She Howls, according to Public Counsel. Formed in Los Angeles in 2016, Tonality was built with a mission to use choral music to drive social dialogue and activism, and it went on to receive the 2020 Chorus America/ASCAP Award for Adventurous Programming for commissioning and performing contemporary choral works centered on social justice themes, according to the organization's own mission page.
Blake founded Tonality in 2016 while completing his doctorate in musical arts at the University of Southern California, building on a musical foundation that began singing in North Carolina church choirs, the Daily Bruin reports. He earned degrees from Wake Forest University and UCLA before completing his doctorate at USC, according to the same outlet.
What the Name Sankofa Means
The festival's title draws from a West African philosophical tradition. Sankofa is an Akan word from Ghana, derived from the Twi phrase san kɔfa, which translates literally to go back and get it, expressing the idea that past wisdom must be retrieved to move forward, according to Wikipedia. In West African Adinkra symbolism, the concept is represented either by a stylized heart or by a mythical bird turning its head backward to carry an egg, per the same entry.
Similar framing has surfaced elsewhere in recent years. In March 2024, the 9th annual Sankofa Jazz Concert at the African Heritage Cultural Arts Center in Miami used the same cultural motif to blend musical performances with community civil rights honors, as Hoodline previously reported, with that event spotlighting jazz drummer Terri Lyne Carrington alongside local leaders of past boycott movements.
A Church Rooted in San Diego Since 1869
First United Methodist Church of San Diego has served the city since 1869, according to KPBS, and is a local congregation within the broader United Methodist Church, which counts more than 11.4 million members worldwide. The church relocated in 1964 to its current sanctuary in Mission Valley, according to Arcadia Publishing.
The congregation has a Racial Justice Ministry.
Concert Proceeds Tied to Permanent Sanctuary Art
The festival is structured as more than a one-weekend event. Proceeds from the Sankofa Choral Festival support FUMCSD's Racial Justice Ministry, and ticket sales will help commission a new piece of permanent sacred art for the sanctuary, according to KPBS. That artwork is intended to celebrate the Imago Dei and the diversity of humanity, with the project aiming to integrate visual art celebrating human diversity into the church's worship space, according to the church's event listing.
Those interested in attending can reach First United Methodist Church of San Diego at 619-297-4366, with tickets available online in advance or at the door for both the November 7 and November 8 concerts at the church's Camino del Rio South campus.
