In celebration of Juneteenth, Early Music Access Project will present “Rock & Reel: Monticello’s Folk Traditions,” a free concert at The Rotunda of The University of Virginia, on June 18 at 7:30 p.m.

Seattle-based fiddler Benjamin Hunter will help audiences appreciate the talent of accomplished Black musicians of years past. Joining him will be baroque violinist David McCormick, Juilliard-trained baroque violinist Carmen Johnson-Pajaro, Dominic Giardino on historical clarinets and Loren Ludwig on early American bass viols.

The concert also includes a newly written work by composer Jonathan Woody, a setting of a story passed down from an enslaved nursemaid at Monticello, performed in this concert by storyteller Sheila Arnold. This story, "Mr. Fox Tricks Mr. Rabbit and is Tricked in Return," comes from the Brer Rabbit tradition and has elements of Ghanaian storytelling.

The concert is free, but advance registration is required, and only 140 tickets are available.

Ninety minutes before the show, a tour of the Memorial to Enslaved Laborers at the University of Virginia is available free for all concert attendees.

On June 17, Early Music Access Project musicians will appear at The Center at Belvedere at 10:30 a.m. They will perform selections from the concert, talk about the history behind the music, and discuss their approach to this unique fiddling tradition. Audience members will have an opportunity to ask questions of the musicians. The event is free, and registration is recommended.