Journeys to Freedom – A Musical Storytelling Performance

Welcome to an afternoon devoted to humanity and compassion! The programme opens with the musical storytelling performance Journeys to Freedom, about the aid organisation Underground Railroad and its leading figure, Harriet Tubman, in 19th-century America under slavery. After an interval, there will be a tribute in memory of Ulricehamn local cultural figure Agneta Tjäder, who died two years ago.

In Journeys to Freedom, we follow the secret organisation Underground Railroad in 19th-century America. It helped enslaved people escape to the free states in the North and to Canada until the Civil War in the 1860s, after which slavery was abolished. The story’s main character is one of Underground Railroad’s leading figures, the Black woman Harriet Tubman, born into slavery in Maryland in 1822. She escaped slavery herself when she was young and then, at great risk to her life, returned to Maryland many times to help others escape.

The vocal soloists are Johanna Lillvik and Maria Kirilov. The narrator is Sabina Henriksson. The musicians are Blue Escape: Örjan Hill, piano (who also wrote the performance and arranged the music); Torbjörn Stenson, saxophone, clarinet and guitar; Lars Mellqvist, bass; and Åke Göransson, drums.

Through song, music and storytelling, we join Harriet Tubman on one of her journeys to freedom in 1856, from Maryland to Canada, together with the enslaved people Joe Bailey, Bill, Peter and Eliza. We hear how they communicated in code during their escape, both in speech and in songs such as “Steal Away,” “Swing Low Sweet Chariot,” “Gospel Train,” “Wade In The Water” and “Go Down Moses.” The story offers inspiration around compassion, solidarity, hospitality, justice and equality, all in the spirit of Agneta Tjäder.

Agneta Tjäder (1946–2024), a journalist, author and guide, was a well-known and appreciated cultural figure in Ulricehamn for many years. From the 1990s onwards, she and her husband, Göran Tjäder, were deeply committed to helping children in Polish orphanages, a lifelong undertaking. Tireless in this work, she made more than 50 trips to Poland to give these vulnerable children a chance at a good life in various ways. After the Syria crisis in 2015, she and her husband helped refugees who had made their way to Sweden, including a group of brothers who had travelled from Syria through Europe to Tvärred.

More information: https://kulturglantan.se
Admission: SEK 250.
Organised by Kulturgläntan and Folkets Hus Ulricehamn, in collaboration with Kulturförvaltningen VGR and Folknätet, with support from Ulricehamns kommun.