Dr. Eric Conway writes:
On
last Saturday, October 12, 2019, the Morgan State University Choir
participated in a concert at Nineteenth Street Baptist Church in
Washington DC. We performed music of Nolan Williams and Raymond Wise.
The title of the concert was Ethereality Celestial Dreams & the Great Beyond:
A choral/orchestral concert exploring the intersectionality of science
and spirituality. The concert was presented by The National Museum of
African American History & Culture’s Center for the Study of African
American Religious
Life and NEWorks Productions. The orchestra was comprised of mostly
African-American orchestral musicians, from the region, assembled for
this concert.
This
was a very big week at Morgan, as this was Homecoming weekend! The
conflict was very unfortunate with many of the choir members not able to
attend due to Homecoming duties, but I felt that this project was
important enough for the choir to work with composer and conductor Nolan
Williams, and learn some very fine new music around the subject of
celestial dreams. Of course, one cannot talk about dreams in the
African-American culture witthout referencing Langston Hughes. A
centerpiece in one of Williams compositions was around Hughes' poem Dreams.
The
evening was further elevated by having Metropolitan Opera Singer Denyce
Graves host the evening. She was able to attend, as this was one of the
few nights where she did not have to sing in their current production
of Porgy and Bess. She provided great readings between the music which connected music with the evening’s theme.
The first piece on the program was by Morgan faculty member James Lee: Sukkot through Orion’s Nebulae.
It was great to have our Morgan students see their professor displayed
on a professional stage such as this. The piece was conducted by
nationally acclaimed conductor, Julius Williams.
What
a great evening of music-making! Please see attached a few pages from
the evening’s program. Also, see some photos from the full day of
rehearsal and performance. Also see links to snippets from our
rehearsals below to get a sense the beauty of the music.
If you get the opportunity to attend a Nolan Williams concert, I think you will be blessed by the experience.
Eric
We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit. - Aristotle
************************************
Eric Conway, D.M.A.
Fine and Performing Arts Department, Chair
Morgan State University
Morgan State University
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