Let Freedom Ring

Jovonta Patton is a five-time #1 chart-topping Billboard recording artist, composer, producer, and entrepreneur. “A reedy baritone, Jovonta’s singing voice, while firmly rooted in the modern gospel tradition, is readily accessible, offering an edifying approach he calls ‘pop-gospel,’ which proved successful on his self-released album Finally Living, making him the first independent gospel artist to have a #1 album on the Billboard gospel charts.” (Thom Jurek, AllMusic.com)

Eshay Brantley (she/her), a multidisciplinary artist born in southside Chicago, moved to Minneapolis in 2004. Social justice advocate, teaching artist, and mother. Brantley’s artistic work commenced in a ritual-based performance. She is dedicated to nurturing the narratives of Black folks, Black womanhood, and Black maternal. Over the past ten years, she has worked with Children’s Theater Company, TruArt Speaks, Minneapolis Community Ed, Park Square Theater, Washburn High School, PBS Twin Cities Public Television, The University of Chicago, Guthrie Theater, Ambiance Theater, Exposed Brick Theatre, Tangible Collective, and Women for Political Change. She’s currently a ECI Fellow and a Spotlight Education Teaching Artist in Residence at Hennepin Theater Trust. Eshay is committed to the work she does in the Twin Cities arts community and continues to plant seeds for a better future for Black babies.

Thomasina Petrus is a local theater artist, musician, and producer well known throughout the Twin Cities, having acted with Penumbra, Park Square, Mixed Blood, Illusion, Guthrie, Capri and Old Arizona Theatre companies. A true “hometown girl”, Thomasina Petrus has cultivated her talents as an actor and jazz vocalist through mentorships and friendships of some of the Twin Cities most beloved artists. Thomasina has performed with/for great artists like James “Cornbread” Harris, Sr., Javetta Steele, Stokley, Regina Williams, Prince, and of course T. Mycheal Rambo, Lou Bellamy, Lewis Whitlock, and now Marion McClinton. She is inspired to continue creating exceptional music and theatre, having established her own production company, Thomasina Productions to produce “Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill” by Lanie Robertson, portraying Billie Holiday’s music and historical legacy. She has also written her own show “Lady Days” and “Etta…Dreams o Remember,” a musical/biographical revue of the life of Etta James.

G. Phillip Shoultz, III, associate artistic director, uses the power of the spoken word and song to foster community and inspire action among people of all ages and abilities. Phillip conducts festival choirs and leads workshops across the United States and beyond. He serves on the faculty of the University of St. Thomas and guides the ministries of worship, music, and the arts at Westwood Lutheran Church. The Minnesota Orchestra regularly engages Phillip to host their Young People’s Concerts and his online presence continues to grow as his pandemic livestream, Take 5 with GPS, rapidly approaches the 450 episode milestone. The winner of numerous honors, including the ACDA Graduate Conducting Competition and multiple Teacher of the Year awards, Phillip founded “Table for More” in the summer of 2020 to help organizations address issues related to innovation, equity, and belonging in the arts. Phillip lives in St. Louis Park with his wife, Michelle, and their two children (Malachi and Lydia Grace).