I write music that remembers.
That resists.
That resonates.
I write what dances, sings,
and stirs the spirit.
Current Projects
When the Caged Bird Sings
EAST COAST PREMIERE • FEBRUARY 28, 2027
The Washington Chorus presents the East Coast premiere of Okoye’s large-scale musical ceremony. 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.
Dear Olly
NEW CHILDREN'S OPERA • PREMIERING SUMMER 2028
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.
New piano suite for Orli Shaham
WORLD PREMIERE •
MARCH 13, 2027
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.
Angels at Night
WORLD PREMIERE, FINLAND, April 2027
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.
About
Nkeiru Okoye is a Guggenheim Fellow and American Prize-winning composer, librettist, and cultural architect whose music connects people to history while inviting contemporary audiences into the conversation. Drawing on classical traditions, African American musical cultures, and global influences, she creates works that are emotionally immediate, dramatically compelling, and deeply human.
Featured Works
“Okoye has crafted more than an oratorio; she has provided a blueprint for how a society might sing its way toward a collective, empowered future.”
— Alice Lange, Martin Cid Magazine