The Music of Motown Tops Off a Day of Juneteenth Activities at the 2025 Princeton Festival

The Princeton Festival will celebrate the contributions of Motown to popular culture and the Civil Rights Movement on Juneteenth, Thursday, June 19. The day-long commemoration of the Emancipation Proclamation includes free community events presented in partnership with the Municipality of Princeton, and culminates in a ticketed 7pm performance of Masters of Soul, A Motown Review in the Festival’s main performance pavilion at Morven Museum & Garden.

Masters of Soul, A Motown Review features incredible harmonies and smooth moves made famous by legendary artists such as Gladys Knight, Marvin Gaye, Smokey Robinson, Diana Ross, James Brown, and others. The show authentically reproduces the look, choreography, style and sound made famous by record labels that were relatively unknown at the time but went on to profoundly influence the history of popular music: Motown Records, Stax, and others. The performance goes beyond the music to preserve the integrity of the entire Motown experience. For many, Masters of Soul is the ultimate stroll down memory lane. For younger generations, the show offers a way to experience a period in our country’s past that produced many of the greatest music acts ever recorded.

The show features a completely live performance with seasoned musicians and world-class performers from The TFC Band. This group has toured extensively worldwide for more than 40 years. After having toured together for decades, The TFC Band created the Masters of Soul show in 2008 as a way to heighten the experience for their fans and deliver the full package—a stage show which captures the sights, sounds, and feel of the Motown era.

Tickets to the performance start at $35, and are available at princetonsymphony.org/festival or by calling 609-497-0020; groups of 10 or more receive a 20% discount. Day-of $20 RUSH tickets are available for anyone 18-30 with government ID at the Festival entrance 1 hour prior to the start of the event.

The Princeton Festival Juneteenth Celebration Schedule:

1pm – A Juneteenth Flag-raising at Monument Plaza in front of the Municipality’s Monument Hall with remarks by Council Members. Free and open to the public.

4pm – Talk, “The Motown Sound” – Dr. Rochelle Ellis, Lecturer of Voice at Princeton University, takes a look at the music of Motown and how the record label helped further the cause of the Civil Rights Movement in America. She traces the origins of Motown and how this distinctive sound affected American pop music, spotlighting some of the major groups on the Motown label. The free presentation takes place at Stockton Education Center at Morven Museum & Garden.

5-7pm – Community Celebration – Sharing of Juneteenth resources, history, crafts, and education commemorating the anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation with community partners: Art Against Racism, The Historical Society of Princeton, The Witherspoon-Jackson Historical and Cultural Society, Morven Museum and Garden, The Municipality of Princeton, Princeton Parents for Black Children, Stuart Country Day School of the Sacred Heart, and YWCA Princeton. Morven Museum & Garden offers free museum admission all day during their normal hours. The celebration is free to the public, and takes place on Morven’s Colonial Lawn, behind the museum.

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