![\"Alexander](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/sut-l-music-sankofa1.jpg\")
Alexander Blake is the artistic director of Tonality, an L.A. chorus performing this weekend at the Sankofa Choral Festival in Mission Valley (Antonio Meda)<\/p>\nWhen Alexander Blake\u2019s Los Angeles-based choral ensemble, Tonality, makes its San Diego debut on Saturday, it won\u2019t be the first time they\u2019ve been heard here.<\/p>\n
The group\u2019s performance on day one of the two-day Sankofa Choral Festival at the First United Methodist Church of San Diego (FUMCSD) follows Tonality\u2019s performance in the Gap\u2019s well-known holiday ad campaign, which launched its 2026 edition on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
Tonality, conducted by its founder Blake, can also be heard singing in the movie \u201cWhalefall,\u201d which has been showing on local screens since mid-October.<\/p>\n
Alexander Blake is the artistic director of Tonality, an L.A. chorus performing this weekend at the Sankofa Choral Festival in Mission Valley (Antonio Meda)<\/p>\n
Tonality can also be heard \u2014 and seen \u2014 online, which is how Brian Lustig, FUMCSD\u2019s choral director, found the ensemble. When he was looking for a dynamic set of voices for his inaugural two-day Sankofa Choral festival, he knew exactly who to contact.<\/p>\n
\u201cI immediately thought of Blake and his professional choir,\u201d Lustig said, speaking from his office at the Mission Valley church. \u201cOne of Tonality\u2019s purposes is to speak social justice truths, which aligns with our mission here. They sound amazing. It will be a treat to hear such high-caliber singers.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tonality, which is featured on two recent Grammy-winning albums, is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year. Blake was studying choral music at the University of Southern California when he gathered a few singers together in 2016.<\/p>\n
He had attended a performance of Craig Hella Johnson\u2019s \u201cConsidering Matthew Shepard,\u201d a choral response to the brutal 1998 murder of a young gay man in Wyoming.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat was the first time I had seen music focused on a story around injustice and hatred,\u201d Blake said. \u201cI started to put together these concerts. There was no real plan after that. It\u2019s an amazing feat to get to a decade.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe mission of Tonality is to use music to speak to experiences, to bring light to difficult conversations and emotions, so that we can connect better and heal as a community,\u201d Blake said.<\/p>\n
Saturday\u2019s concert will begin with songs from \u201cAmerica Will Be,\u201d a choral piece curated by Blake during the 2020 pandemic. The singers of Tonality will perform such songs as Sam Cooke\u2019s \u201cA Change Is Gonna Come\u201d and Blake\u2019s \u201c1232 Lyfe,\u201d which is about the three-strikes law.<\/p>\n
The second half will showcase \u201cRunning From, Running To: A Musical Reflection on Ahmaud Arbery.\u201d It is featured on Tonality\u2019s \u201cSongs of Remembering\u201d album, which was released last year.<\/p>\n
In February 2020, Ahmaud Arbery \u2014 an unarmed 25-year-old black man \u2014 was shot multiple times in Georgia while he was jogging. Three white men were found guilty of murder and hate crimes.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe nature of the Ahmaud\u2019s murder had so many important aspects to me,\u201d said Blake, who composed \u201cRunning From, Running To\u201d with single-named singer-songwriter Ogi.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was running, doing something so humane and health-conscious and forward-thinking, and these men were so threatened by his very existence,\u201d Blake continued. \u201cIn less violent and less extreme ways, I have felt that fear.\u201d<\/p>\n
As either a conductor, singer or vocal contractor, Blake has worked on many film and TV projects. They include \u201cWhalefall,\u201d \u201cThe Odyssey,\u201d National Geographic\u2019s \u201cAmerica The Beautiful\u201d series and the Gap holiday campaign commercials.<\/p>\n
Saturday\u2019s concert at FUMCSD will feature soloists throughout the concert, including in six of the eight movements of \u201cRunning From, Running To.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s funny to think that my first big composition was so heavy,\u201d Blake said. \u201cI was in touch with Ahmaud\u2019s family, so \u2014 aside from dealing with imposter syndrome \u2014 it carried the weight of feeling this family is about to encounter this music about someone they knew and loved.\u201d<\/p>\n
The festival continues with a second concert on Sunday that will featurethe choirs of FUMCSD, performing a concert curated by Lustig.<\/p>\n
All the composers at Sunday\u2019s concert are Black but come from different eras and backgrounds. They include Rosephanye Powell, who received the prestigious 2025 Raymond Brock Memorial Commission, and R. Nathaniel Dett, a lauded mid-century composer.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis music is so worthy of performance,\u201d Lustig said. \u201cOur standard canon usually features European music and doesn\u2019t represent a lot of works by women or Black composers. We\u2019ll do a few familiar tunes like \u2018Swing Low, Sweet Chariot.\u2019 But most of the concert will be pieces that people have not encountered.\u201d<\/p>\n
To Blake, who will conduct Saturday and Sunday\u2019s concerts, the Sankofa Choral Festival is the right place for sonic exploration of important issues.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs choral artists, we have a particular impact in the way we create music together with people with different voices,\u201d he said. \u201cWe show the strength and the beauty that comes when we all work together for a common purpose.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sankofa Choral Festival featuring Tonality<\/p>\n
When: 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday\n<\/p>\n
Where: First United Methodist Church of San Diego (FUMCSD), 2111 Camino del Rio South, Mission Valley<\/p>\n
Tickets: $30-$45 per concert; $40-$60 for both; $5 for students<\/p>\n
Phone: 619-297-4366<\/p>\n