Ghana: Morgan State University Choir 'Country - U.S. @ 50 - Looking Back, Moving Forward'

Ghana: 'Country - U.S. @ 50 - Looking Back, Moving Forward'

Accra Mail (Accra)

PRESS RELEASE
1 August 2007
Posted to the web 1 August 2007

Dr. Eric Conway

The United States Embassy and the Morgan State University Choir in partnership with renowned Ghanaian choral groups would present free choral concerts in Accra, Kumasi, Takoradi, and Cape Coast in celebration of Ghana's Golden Jubilee.

The concerts are part of the numerous high impact programmes that the Embassy is implementing throughout the year under the theme: "Ghana - U.S. @50: Looking Back, Moving Forward.

The Morgan State University Choir, led for more than three decades by the late Dr. Nathan Carter, the celebrated conductor, composer, and arranger, is one of the nation's most prestigious university choral ensembles.

The choral forces of the critically acclaimed choir include the University Choir, which is over 140 voices strong, and The Morgan Singers - approximately 40 voices. While classical, gospel, and contemporary popular music comprise the choir's repertoire, the choir is noted for its emphasis on preserving the heritage of the spiritual, especially in the historic practices of performance.

The Morgan State University Choir has performed for audiences throughout the United States and all over the world - including Virgin Islands, Canary Islands, Canada, Africa, Asia and Europe.

The Choir has appeared at the Kennedy Center, the Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall on numerous occasions - performing and premiering works such as John Corigiliano's "Poem On His Birthday," "Too Hot to Handel" arranged by Broadway composers, Bob Christianson and Gray Anderson; and Hannibal Lokumbe's "African Portraits," led by music director, Leonard Slatkin, as part of the Kennedy Center's African Festival. One of the Choir's most historic moments came with the opportunity to sing under the baton of Robert Shaw, conducting the Orchestra of St. Luke's and joined by Jessye Norman and others in Carnegie Hall's One Hundredth Birthday Tribute to Marian Anderson.

A major milestone and historical movement occurred in the 1996-1997 season with the sounds of the "Silver Anniversary" concert being broadcast into households throughout the state of Maryland. The concert won three Emmy Awards for Maryland Public Television (MPT). MPT continues to air this hallmark performance during select sections of their membership drives.

Known for the consistency of their excellent performances, the Choir probably does more annual appearances with major orchestras of the United States than any other university choir. For example, season 1998-1999 included performances with the National Symphony, the New York Philharmonic, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Buffalo Symphony, the Baltimore Symphony, and the Knoxville Symphony. During the 1999-2000 season, the Choir was featured with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra in a (then) newly commissioned work for the millennium, "All Rise," by Wynton Marsalis.

The Choir reprised "All Rise" in Prague, in October 2000 and recorded it with the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra; the Los Angeles Philharmonic; and in 2003, the Choir recorded it in Paris. In December 2003 the Choir performed "African Portraits" with the Baltimore Symphony at the Gala Concert for the Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland African American History & Culture.

In their May 2004 issue, Reader's Digest named the Morgan State University Choir "the Best College Choir in the U.S.' in its list of "America's 100 Best."

In January 2005, under the leadership of Dr. Eric Conway, the Choir performed Felix Mendelssohn's Symphony #2, "Lobgesang" with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra as well as sang for the State Department at the personal invitation of Secretary of State Condeleeza Rice to wide acclaim. In October 2005, the Morgan State University Choir sang for the service honoring Rosa Parks, the unassuming matriarch of the civil rights movement, who became the first woman to lie in honor at our nation's Capitol Rotunda.

Last summer, the Choir traveled to Prague, Czech Republic, for two concerts with maestro Paul Freeman. In November 2006, the ensemble participated in a concert celebrating the Bicentennial Celebration and Re-opening of the Basilica of the Assumption - the first cathedral in America!

In February 2007, the Choir traveled to Nassau, Bahamas performing for the Prime Minister and U.S. Ambassador. In March 2007, the Choir sang at the Kennedy Center for a Living Jazz Legends Concert where the Choir performed with legendary Jazz performers as Nancy Wilson, Billy Taylor, Regina Carter, Jon Faddis, and T.S. Monk!

The Morgan State University Choir has shared its musical gifts on many grand stages all over the world - with numerous dignitaries and celebrated performers - making them cultural ambassadors for Morgan State University, the City of Baltimore, the State of Maryland and the United States. Each spring, the Choir concludes its season at home with its annual spring benefit concert - which large audiences enthusiastically anticipate and receive.