Eric Conway and Eric Whitacre
Eric Whitacre
Roland Carter and Eric Conway
Eric Conway, D.M.A.:
June 14, 2014, 11:29 p.m.
Today, June 14, 2014, is Flag Day, a national holiday, albeit less
celebrated than most other national holidays. This year's Flag day
ceremony was much more notable since we as a country are celebrating the
bicentennial anniversary of the composition of our National Anthem, The
Star Spangled Banner by Francis Scott Key. The event today was
sponsored by both the Kennedy Center for Performing Arts in Washington
DC, and Smithsonian Museum of American History. The actual flag that
was actually seen by Francis Scott Key is currently housed on display at
the Smithsonian Museum for the world to see, on loan from the Maryland
Historical Society. This unusual flag, at least from our experience, is
seen with 15 stars and 15 stripes, rather than the 13 that we are used
to seeing (notice the backdrop in photos attached). I personally had an
opportunity to view this national treasure and was in awe of the
incredible magnitude of this relic, i.e. for soldiers to see a flag from
miles away, it must be huge, a minor fact that is often overlooked.
Today,
members of the Morgan State Univeristy choir were asked to participate
in this national ceremony where there were as many as 450 choristers
from 45 of the 50 states participating in this concert. Performers
included a large national choir of ages ten to seventy-five, the United
States Air Force Band, Carlene Carter, Singing Sergeants, Folkways
(Little Bit a Blues), the Smithsonian Jazz Ensemble, and Kristin
Capolino conducted by Colonel Lang from the Air Force Band, Franciso
Nunez (conductor of the Young People's Chorus in New York City), and
world-famous composer and choral conductor Eric Whitacre all assembled
to present a healthy dose of Americana.
As
many of you know, the Morgan State University Choir sings many Eric
Whitacre songs. We were delighted that we could be a part of an event
where we could possibly meet him and talk to him about his music.
During the rehearsal at the Kennedy Center, he generously devoted
twenty minutes to Q & A about his music and his life. Eric Whitacre
was surprisingly gracious despite his celebrity and almost movie-star
looks. See link below to some of his answers to some very candid
questions like: what to you use to get your hair to stay in place?
Our
own Governor O'Malley spoke very eloquently at this event. One of the
pieces performed was Roland Carter's arrangement of Lift Every Voice and
Sing, re-arranged for Concert Band who was in proudly in attendance.
See link to YouTube clip of today's performance of this concert
arrangement our Negro National Anthem with this national mass choir.
Many
of the Morgan choir members were not enthusiastic about meeting a bus a
6AM on a Saturday morning to get to the Kennedy Center for our dress
rehearsal. However at the end of the day, all where pleased to have
been a part of this great patriotic event!
Roland Carter's Lift Every Voice
Eric Whitacre Q & A
******************
Eric Conway, D.M.A.
Fine and Performing Arts Department, Chair
Morgan State University
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