Program Notes
Lift Every Voice
February 24, 2024 | 7:30 p.m.
Christ United Methodist Church, Plano Texas
Plano Civic Chorus
Lift Every Voice
A Concert of African American Composers
February 24, 2024 7:30 pm
Program Notes
Lift Every Voice by James Weldon Johnson and John Rosamond Johnson arr. Roland Carter
Lift Every Voice and Sing was a hymn written as a poem by NAACP leader James Weldon Johnson (1871-1938) in 1900. His brother, John Rosamond Johnson (1873-1954), composed the music for the lyrics. A choir of 500 schoolchildren at the segregated Stanton School in Jacksonville, Florida, where James Weldon Johnson was principal, first performed the song in public to celebrate President Abraham Lincoln's birthday. Shortly after, the duo moved across the country to New York. The song slipped from the Johnson Brothers' memories, but Black communities in the South continued to sing the hymn and share it with others. The hymn rapidly became a song of deep significance for the African American people, especially during the Civil Rights Movement in America. Often referred to as "the black national anthem", the lyrics speak of faith and freedom, paying homage to the endurances of their ancestors, and is a hopeful look to a future of equality.
Roland Marvin Carter (b. 1942) is an American composer and conductor, largely of choral music. A native of Chattanooga, Tennessee, Carter studied music education at Hampton University, from which he received a BA, and New York University, from which he received his MA; he studied piano, choral music, and composition. From 1965 until 1989 he taught music at Hampton University, chairing the Department of Music and leading the choir. In 1989 he moved to the University of Tennessee, Chattanooga, where he conducted the choir and continued to teach until his 2013 retirement.
My Heart Be Brave by Marques L. A. Garrett
A Virginia native, Marques L. A. Garrett is Associate Professor of Choral Studies at the University of North Texas. His responsibilities include conducting the University Singers and teaching graduate and undergraduate choral conducting. His previous appointments were at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln and Cheyney University. He holds a PhD in Music Education (Choral Conducting) from Florida State University, an MM from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, and a BA from Hampton University.
We Are the Music Makers by Reginal Wright
Reginal Wright is a composer, conductor, and educator who creates works in collaboration with choirs and music educators. As an educator, Reginal has earned many awards over the span of his more than 20-year career. As a composer, Reginal’s works have been commissioned by middle school, high school, college, and professional choirs. His works have been performed by All-State Choirs and invited convention choirs. His “Invictus” was performed in the 2021 ACDA National Convention and by the 2022 Texas All-State Tenor-Bass Choir. Reginal currently teaches at Baylor University and conducts the Arlington Master Chorale.
Sanctus by Carlos Simon
Carlos Simon (b. 1986) is a native of Atlanta, Georgia, whose music ranges from concert music for large and small ensembles to film scores with influences of jazz, gospel, and neo-romanticism. Simon is the Composer-in-Residence for the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the inaugural Boston Symphony Orchestra Composer Chair, and was nominated for a 2023 GRAMMY award for his album Requiem for the Enslaved.
Non Nobis, Domine by Rosephany Powell
Rosephanye Powell (b. 1962) has been hailed as one of America’s premier women composers of solo vocal and choral music. Dr. Powell’s works have been conducted and premiered nationally and internationally and have been commissioned by professional choral ensembles. Dr. Powell serves as Professor of Voice at Auburn University. She holds degrees from Florida State University, Westminster Choir College, and Alabama State University. Dr. Powell served on the faculties of Philander Smith College (AR) and Georgia Southern University prior to her arrival at Auburn University in 2001.
Holding the Light by B. E. Boykin
B.E. Boykin (b. 1989) is a native of Alexandria, Virginia. After graduating from Spelman College in 2011 with a B.A. in Music, Ms. Boykin continued her studies at Westminster Choir College of Rider University in Princeton, New Jersey. This is where she earned a M. M. in Sacred Music with a concentration in choral studies and was awarded the R & R Young Composition Prize. She earned a PhD from Georgia State University with an emphasis in Music Education. Ms. Boykin is currently an Assistant Professor of Music at the Georgia Institute of Technology.
Forever Thine by William Dawson
William Dawson (1899-1990) was born in Anniston, Alabama. In 1912, Dawson ran away from home to study music full-time as a pre-college student at the Tuskegee Institute (now University). He also participated as a member of Tuskegee’s choir, band and orchestra, composing and traveling extensively with the Tuskegee Singers for five years. A graduate of the Horner Institute of Fine Arts with a Bachelor of Music, Chicago Musical College and then at the American Conservatory of Music where he received his master's degree. He taught at Tuskegee Institute from 1931–1956 developing the Tuskegee Institute Choir into an internationally renowned ensemble.
Love Let the Wind Cry by Undine S. Moore
Undine Eliza Anna Smith Moore (1904-1989) the "Dean of Black Women Composers", was an American composer and professor of music in the twentieth century. Moore was originally trained as a classical pianist but developed a compositional output of mostly vocal music-her preferred genre. Much of her work was inspired by black spirituals and folk music. Undine Smith Moore was a renowned teacher, and once stated that she experienced "teaching itself as an art". Towards the end of her life, she received many awards for her accomplishments as a music educator.
A Love Song by Marques L. A. Garrett
See the composer’s biography above.
Give Me Jesus by Moses Hogan
Moses George Hogan (1957-2003) was an American composer and arranger of choral music. He was best known for his settings of spirituals. Hogan was a pianist, conductor, and arranger of international renown. His works are celebrated and performed by high school, college, church, community, and professional choirs. Over his lifetime, he published 88 arrangements for voice, eight of which were solo pieces.
To Sit and Dream by Rosephanye Powell
See the composer’s biography above.
A Prayer by Ken Burton
Ken Burton (b. 1970) is a British choral and orchestral conductor, composer, performer, producer, presenter, arranger and judge, widely known for his work and appearances on UK television programs, particularly BBC1 Songs of Praise. He has conducted and directed choirs for major films, including the multi-Oscar winning and Grammy winning Marvel film Black Panther, Black Panther 2: Wakanda Forever, and is one of the credited choral conductors on the film Jingle Jangle and has also contributed as a conductor, contractor, and singer to a number of other films including Amazing Grace, and Ugly Dolls.
Ain’a That Good News by William Dawson
See the composer’s biography above.
Rock-a My Soul by Stacey V. Gibbs
Stacey V. Gibbs is a prolific and highly sought after composer and arranger. Best known for arrangements of spirituals, he is highly acclaimed for his ability to infuse new energy into familiar works without sacrificing their authenticity or power. Recently, two of his settings debuted at the World Choral Symposium in Barcelona, and he was also honored by five debuts at the ACDA National Conference in Minneapolis. He attended Kentucky State University. The Stacey V. Gibbs Chorale debuted in July 2016. He currently resides in Detroit, Michigan.
Lift Every Voice
A Concert of African American Composers
February 24, 2024 7:30 pm
Program Notes
Lift Every Voice by James Weldon Johnson and John Rosamond Johnson arr. Roland Carter
Lift Every Voice and Sing was a hymn written as a poem by NAACP leader James Weldon Johnson (1871-1938) in 1900. His brother, John Rosamond Johnson (1873-1954), composed the music for the lyrics. A choir of 500 schoolchildren at the segregated Stanton School in Jacksonville, Florida, where James Weldon Johnson was principal, first performed the song in public to celebrate President Abraham Lincoln's birthday. Shortly after, the duo moved across the country to New York. The song slipped from the Johnson Brothers' memories, but Black communities in the South continued to sing the hymn and share it with others. The hymn rapidly became a song of deep significance for the African American people, especially during the Civil Rights Movement in America. Often referred to as "the black national anthem", the lyrics speak of faith and freedom, paying homage to the endurances of their ancestors, and is a hopeful look to a future of equality.
Roland Marvin Carter (b. 1942) is an American composer and conductor, largely of choral music. A native of Chattanooga, Tennessee, Carter studied music education at Hampton University, from which he received a BA, and New York University, from which he received his MA; he studied piano, choral music, and composition. From 1965 until 1989 he taught music at Hampton University, chairing the Department of Music and leading the choir. In 1989 he moved to the University of Tennessee, Chattanooga, where he conducted the choir and continued to teach until his 2013 retirement.
My Heart Be Brave by Marques L. A. Garrett
A Virginia native, Marques L. A. Garrett is Associate Professor of Choral Studies at the University of North Texas. His responsibilities include conducting the University Singers and teaching graduate and undergraduate choral conducting. His previous appointments were at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln and Cheyney University. He holds a PhD in Music Education (Choral Conducting) from Florida State University, an MM from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, and a BA from Hampton University.
We Are the Music Makers by Reginal Wright
Reginal Wright is a composer, conductor, and educator who creates works in collaboration with choirs and music educators. As an educator, Reginal has earned many awards over the span of his more than 20-year career. As a composer, Reginal’s works have been commissioned by middle school, high school, college, and professional choirs. His works have been performed by All-State Choirs and invited convention choirs. His “Invictus” was performed in the 2021 ACDA National Convention and by the 2022 Texas All-State Tenor-Bass Choir. Reginal currently teaches at Baylor University and conducts the Arlington Master Chorale.
Sanctus by Carlos Simon
Carlos Simon (b. 1986) is a native of Atlanta, Georgia, whose music ranges from concert music for large and small ensembles to film scores with influences of jazz, gospel, and neo-romanticism. Simon is the Composer-in-Residence for the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the inaugural Boston Symphony Orchestra Composer Chair, and was nominated for a 2023 GRAMMY award for his album Requiem for the Enslaved.
Non Nobis, Domine by Rosephany Powell
Rosephanye Powell (b. 1962) has been hailed as one of America’s premier women composers of solo vocal and choral music. Dr. Powell’s works have been conducted and premiered nationally and internationally and have been commissioned by professional choral ensembles. Dr. Powell serves as Professor of Voice at Auburn University. She holds degrees from Florida State University, Westminster Choir College, and Alabama State University. Dr. Powell served on the faculties of Philander Smith College (AR) and Georgia Southern University prior to her arrival at Auburn University in 2001.
Holding the Light by B. E. Boykin
B.E. Boykin (b. 1989) is a native of Alexandria, Virginia. After graduating from Spelman College in 2011 with a B.A. in Music, Ms. Boykin continued her studies at Westminster Choir College of Rider University in Princeton, New Jersey. This is where she earned a M. M. in Sacred Music with a concentration in choral studies and was awarded the R & R Young Composition Prize. She earned a PhD from Georgia State University with an emphasis in Music Education. Ms. Boykin is currently an Assistant Professor of Music at the Georgia Institute of Technology.
Forever Thine by William Dawson
William Dawson (1899-1990) was born in Anniston, Alabama. In 1912, Dawson ran away from home to study music full-time as a pre-college student at the Tuskegee Institute (now University). He also participated as a member of Tuskegee’s choir, band and orchestra, composing and traveling extensively with the Tuskegee Singers for five years. A graduate of the Horner Institute of Fine Arts with a Bachelor of Music, Chicago Musical College and then at the American Conservatory of Music where he received his master's degree. He taught at Tuskegee Institute from 1931–1956 developing the Tuskegee Institute Choir into an internationally renowned ensemble.
Love Let the Wind Cry by Undine S. Moore
Undine Eliza Anna Smith Moore (1904-1989) the "Dean of Black Women Composers", was an American composer and professor of music in the twentieth century. Moore was originally trained as a classical pianist but developed a compositional output of mostly vocal music-her preferred genre. Much of her work was inspired by black spirituals and folk music. Undine Smith Moore was a renowned teacher, and once stated that she experienced "teaching itself as an art". Towards the end of her life, she received many awards for her accomplishments as a music educator.
A Love Song by Marques L. A. Garrett
See the composer’s biography above.
Give Me Jesus by Moses Hogan
Moses George Hogan (1957-2003) was an American composer and arranger of choral music. He was best known for his settings of spirituals. Hogan was a pianist, conductor, and arranger of international renown. His works are celebrated and performed by high school, college, church, community, and professional choirs. Over his lifetime, he published 88 arrangements for voice, eight of which were solo pieces.
To Sit and Dream by Rosephanye Powell
See the composer’s biography above.
A Prayer by Ken Burton
Ken Burton (b. 1970) is a British choral and orchestral conductor, composer, performer, producer, presenter, arranger and judge, widely known for his work and appearances on UK television programs, particularly BBC1 Songs of Praise. He has conducted and directed choirs for major films, including the multi-Oscar winning and Grammy winning Marvel film Black Panther, Black Panther 2: Wakanda Forever, and is one of the credited choral conductors on the film Jingle Jangle and has also contributed as a conductor, contractor, and singer to a number of other films including Amazing Grace, and Ugly Dolls.
Ain’a That Good News by William Dawson
See the composer’s biography above.
Rock-a My Soul by Stacey V. Gibbs
Stacey V. Gibbs is a prolific and highly sought after composer and arranger. Best known for arrangements of spirituals, he is highly acclaimed for his ability to infuse new energy into familiar works without sacrificing their authenticity or power. Recently, two of his settings debuted at the World Choral Symposium in Barcelona, and he was also honored by five debuts at the ACDA National Conference in Minneapolis. He attended Kentucky State University. The Stacey V. Gibbs Chorale debuted in July 2016. He currently resides in Detroit, Michigan.