Dr. Eric Conway writes:
On
Friday, March 24, the MSU choir continued their Spring tour by traveling
to Jacksonville, FL. Whenever the Morgan choir travels, I try to
include an educational component if at all possible. TC Newman, Morgan
alumnus and president of the Jacksonville chapter of the alumni chapter,
told me that we absolutely could not visit Jacksonville without seeing
the James Weldon Johnson Exhibit. When we arrived in Jacksonville, we
went directly to the Ritz Theatre. This theatre is located in the La
Villa district of Jacksonville, historically known as “the mecca for
African American culture and heritage” in Florida. Some referred to
this district in the early part of the twentieth-century as "the Harlem
of the South" - thus the reason for the location of this exhibit. The
local chapter paid the ticket price of admission to the exhibit for the
entire choir.
Although
most students do not anticipate going to museums, the Morgan choir
anxiously awaited this exhibit. If you have every attended a Morgan
choir concert, you know that we typically open our concerts with the
James Weldon and J. Rosamond Johnson’s “Lift Every Voice and Sing.”
This Ritz Theatre exhibit generally features the achievements of
notable African Americans from Florida, much like our Reginald Lewis
Museum in Baltimore highlights the achievements of African-Americans
from Baltimore; however, not as well funded. The best part of the tour
was a robotic presentation featuring James and J. Rosamond speaking
about their life and music. We learned much about James Weldon Johnson
the activist, lawyer, diplomat, poet, and of course a songwriter.
Although not a very good bootleg video, pls. see below a link to a video
of the twelve-minute robotic presentation which is quite life-like and
informative!
Our
Jacksonville concert was hosted by one of the largest churches in
Jacksonville, Hope Chapel Ministries church where another Morgan
Alumnus, Garry Merritt was an associate pastor. We had the largest
audience of the tour with incredible sound in the sanctuary. Please see
YouTube links to our performance below with photos from the day.
EC
Link to Robotic Video at Ritz Theatre:
Link to 1st Half of Jacksonville Concert:
Link to 2nd Half of Jacksonville Concert:
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Eric Conway, D.M.A.
Fine and Performing Arts Department, Chair
Morgan State University
1700 East Cold Spring Lane
Carl Murphy Fine Arts Center, Room 329C
Baltimore, MD 21251
Morgan State University
1700 East Cold Spring Lane
Carl Murphy Fine Arts Center, Room 329C
Baltimore, MD 21251
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