Black History Month Concert Choir Performance
Friday Feb, 03 2012
Roland Carter and Allen Todd to Perform with the Huston-Tillotson University Concert Choir
During a Collaborative Black History Month Celebration
The maestro of the world’s most popular arrangement of “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” Roland Carter, will perform during the Black History Month celebration that features three concert choirs and guest singer Allen F. Todd, II. The Huston-Tillotson University Concert Choir, under the direction of Gloria Quinlan, the Prairie View A&M University Concert Chorale, led by A. Jan Taylor, and the Butler School of Music Concert Chorale at the University of Texas, conducted by Suzanne Pence, will perform collectively on Friday, Feb. 3, 2012, at 7:30 p.m. at the Bates Recital Hall, 2420 Robert Dedman Drive.
Carter, noted as an authority on the performance and preservation of African American music, is a distinguished composer, conductor, educator, and pianist with his works performed by orchestras and choirs throughout the world. “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” written by James Weldon Johnson as a poem and set to music by John Johnson is considered the Negro National Anthem for its expression of pride, patriotism, and promise for the future. Carter is the Ruth S. Holmberg Professor of American Music in the Department of Music at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga (UTC). His accomplishments as a leading figure in the choral arts include concerts with major choruses and orchestras in prestigious venues nationwide as well as lectures, workshops, and master classes. From presidential inaugurations to the smallest church, from scholarly presentations for national gatherings of musicians, educators, and preservationists to private coaching with individual singers, Carter’s musical brilliance is enjoyed by all.
Carter is founder and Chief Executive Officer of Mar-Vel, a music publisher specializing in the music of African American Composers and traditions. He has directed the Chattanooga Choral Society for the Preservation of African American Song for 19 years, and served as music advisor and principle guest conductor of the Houston Ebony Opera Guild, Houston, Texas, for 12 years.
The concert will also feature Allen Franklin Todd, II, an accomplished composer who has written numerous gospel, worship, and praise selections. Todd serves as the Music Area Coordinator, Assistant Professor of Music, and Director of the Lemoyne-Owen College Concert Choir. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree in Music from Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia; the Master of Music degree in Vocal Performance and Choral Conducting from the College of Music Arts at Bowling Green State University in Bowling Green, Ohio; and the Doctorate of Musical Arts degree in Performance with concentrations in Opera Studies, Choral Conducting and Voice from the Rudi E. Scheidt School of Music at the University of Memphis in Memphis, Tennessee.
The HT Concert Choir continues the University’s proud heritage of world-class performing ensembles. The current choir, the greater number of whom are music majors, performs a wide variety of music, including works from the classical choral repertoire, spirituals, gospel, and jazz. Quinlan joined the HT faculty in 1998 and serves as Professor of Music. She has conducted the choir before national audiences and on the world stage. Suzanne Pence joined the UT faculty in 1996 and serves as Director of Admissions for the Butler School of Music in addition to her teaching assignments. She is active as an adjudicator, and clinician/festival conductor in the midwest and the southeast.
Huston-Tillotson University, with roots dating to 1875, is Austin’s first institution of higher education.
The concert is free and open to the public. Parking is available at the San Jacinto Garage.
Read more about the HT Concert Choir.
