I write music that remembers.
That resists.
That resonates.
I write what dances, sings,
and stirs the spirit.
Featured Works
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Discover additional performances, interviews, and recordings on my YouTube channel.
About
Nkeiru Okoye is a composer, librettist, and narrative architect whose music doesn't just speak—it testifies. A Guggenheim Fellow and winner of The American Prize, her work bridges classical tradition with the vitality of African American musical traditions and global influences, creating music that is emotionally immediate, dramatically compelling, and deeply human. From the sweeping choral drama of When the Caged Bird Sings and the opera Harriet Tubman to the orchestral energy of Voices Shouting Out and the piano suite African Sketches, her compositions invite audiences into stories that resonate long after the final note. Her music has been commissioned and performed by BBC Radio 3, The Philadelphia Orchestra, Detroit Symphony, Juilliard, Houston Grand Opera, Opera North UK, and the United States Army Field Band. She is recorded on NAXOS, MSR Classics, Albany Records, and Pentatone, and published by Theodore Presser.
Current Projects
2026-27 Season
EAST COAST PREMIERE • FEBRUARY 28, 2027
When the Caged Bird Sings
The Washington Chorus presents the East Coast premiere of Okoye’s large-scale musical ceremony at DAR Constitution Hall in Washington, DC. Conducted by Eugene Rogers, the performance features narrator Denyce Graves; vocalists Angela Brown, Christie Dashiell, Issachah Savage, and Michael Preacely; members of the EXIGENCE Vocal Ensemble; and jazz and gospel pianist Cyrus Chestnut.
NEW CHILDREN'S OPERA • PREMIERING SUMMER 2028
Dear Olly
Commissioned by Opera North UK and based on Michael Morpurgo’s novel, this children’s opera follows three young people whose lives become connected across England and postwar Angola: Olly, a young girl in England; Matt, her college-aged brother volunteering at an Angolan orphanage; and Gahamire, a boy living at the orphanage. For the multi-city tour across England, teachers at participating schools will teach the music to their students, who will perform as the local children’s chorus alongside three young professional artists.
WORLD PREMIERE • MARCH 13, 2027
New piano suite for Orli Shaham
Written for internationally acclaimed pianist Orli Shaham and commissioned through Juilliard Pre-College’s Kayden Music Commissioning Program, the suite continues the lyrical tradition of Okoye’s piano music—from the soulful “Dusk” in African Sketches to “Dancing Barefoot in the Rain” and the newer Meanderings. Its movements unfold as contemporary songs without words.
In Development
WORLD PREMIERE, FINLAND, April 2027
Angels at Night
Commissioned by the Kuopio Symphony Orchestra, Angels at Night is a vibrant new orchestral work driven by bold, cinematic call-and-response, at times recalling military signals. Fleeting shadows of Nobody Knows the Trouble I’ve Seen give way to a luminous setting of All Night, All Day (Angels Watching Over Me). As the music gathers momentum toward an exhilarating vivace close, its bright, airborne exchanges suggest angels dancing in the dark. The orchestral score reimagines a work originally composed for trombone quartet.
In Development
