DETROIT—When culture and refinement meet artistic expression, you have an evening of peace and enjoyment. That was the spirit in the room as The Ministry of Arts and Culture presented an evening of highly civilized entertainment Feb. 19 during the Saviours’ Day 2026 convention.
Believers came from near and far to celebrate and observe the Birth Anniversary of our Saviour, Master Fard Muhammad, with a weekend full of activities, including a performance by the musical ensemble. Those who attended this event believed it spoke beyond a usual night of entertainment and that it connected music to the soul.
“There’s such an intricate connection between the music and the soul,” said Sister Takiyah Muhammad, who attended the concert with her husband, Student Minister Sultan Muhammad of Grand Rapids, Michigan.
She shared how the concert made her reflect on the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan picking up his violin to play again and on the impact it has had on young musicians today.
Ensemble performers ranging from 9 years old to adulthood played in unison while finely dressed attendees listened attentively. Suddenly, a small group of N.O.I. Waltz Dancers accompanied the musical selection with smoothness and grace.
The waltz is a dance style loved by Master Fard Muhammad and was a pleasant addition to the traditional classical instruments such as piano, violin, cello and harp played by selected members of the group.
“Black people need to see classical music reflecting now and pertaining to them,” said Fard Muhammad of Mosque Maryam. Brother Fard, a trumpeter for nearly 40 years, is also the composer and arranger of the N.O.I. Musical Ensemble.
“Minister Farrakhan said that more Black people would come to the concert hall, to the opera house if we were on stage playing. So now we’re here, we’re playing, but we are playing music that’s relevant to us,” he said.
Sis. Akilah Muhammad, also known as Akilah Nehanda, a performing artist from Houston, agrees. “The Ministry of Arts and Culture is important because it pushes society forward,” she said. “Sometimes we put a lot of emphasis on the sciences of architecture and engineering.
However, the background of all of that is usually music and culture. It shapes the type of society that we live in because it sends vibrations into the atmosphere. When I heard that harp, it took the vibration of the entire symphony to a whole other level.
And that’s what music does. So, if we really want to raise the vibration of the people and raise our people from the dead, we could, and we should manipulate music and the arts and culture to be in our favor.”
The concert concluded with a classical rendition of “The Fight Song” sung by Sister Khadijah Muhammad from Mosque Maryam, written by the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad, as the audience sang along.