The Morgan
State University Choir
Dr. Eric Conway, Director
The
Morgan State University Choir is one of the nation’s most
prestigious university choral ensembles. The choral forces
of this critically acclaimed choir include The University
Choir, which is over 130 voices strong, and The Morgan
Singers – approximately 40 voices. While classical, gospel,
and contemporary popular music comprise the choir’s
repertoire, the choir is noted for its emphasis on
preserving the heritage of the spiritual, especially in the
historic practices of performance.
The Morgan State University Choir has performed for
audiences throughout the United States and all over the
world – including Virgin Islands, Canary Islands, Canada,
Africa, Asia and Europe. One of the Choir’s most historic
moments came with the opportunity to sing under the baton
of Robert Shaw, conducting the Orchestra of St. Lukes and
joined by Jessye Norman and others in Carnegie Hall’s One
Hundredth Birthday Tribute to Marian Anderson. A major
milestone and historical movement occurred in the 1996-1997
season with the sounds of the “Silver Anniversary” concert
being broadcast into households throughout the state of
Maryland. The concert won three Emmy Awards for Maryland
Public Television (MPT). MPT continues to air this hallmark
performance during select sections of their membership
drives.
Known for their consistency of excellent performances, the
Choir probably performs with more major orchestras of the
United States than any other university choir. During the
1999-2000 season, the Choir was featured with the New York
Philharmonic Orchestra in a (then) newly commissioned work
for the millennium, “All Rise,” by Wynton Marsalis. The
Choir reprised “All Rise” in Prague, in October 2000 and
recorded it with the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra; the Los
Angeles Philharmonic; and in 2003, the Choir recorded it in
Paris. In December 2003 the Choir performed “African
Portraits” with the Baltimore Symphony at the Gala Concert
for the Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland African
American History & Culture. In their May 2004 issue,
Reader’s Digest named the Morgan State University Choir
“the Best College Choir in the U.S.’ in its list of
“America’s 100 Best.”
In February 2005, at the personal invitation of Secretary
of State Condeleeza Rice, the choir performed for the State
Department for their annual African American History Month
Celebration. In October of the same year, the Morgan State
University Choir sang for the service honoring Rosa Parks,
the unassuming matriarch of the civil rights movement, who
became the first woman to lie in honor at our nation’s
Capitol Rotunda. In March of 2006, Cox Communications
sponsored the choir in a special presentation on television
to benefit the victims of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans
to critical acclaim. During the summer of 2006, the Choir
traveled to Prague, Czech Republic, for two concerts with
maestro Paul Freeman and the Czech National Symphony
Orchestra. In November 2006, the ensemble participated in a
concert celebrating the Bicentennial Celebration and
Re-opening of the Basilica of the Assumption - the first
cathedral in America! In March 2007, the Choir sang at the
Kennedy Center for a Living Jazz Legends Concert where the
Choir performed with legendary Jazz performers as Nancy
Wilson, Billy Taylor, Regina Carter, Jon Faddis, and T.S.
Monk!
In August 2007, at the invitation of US Ambassador
Bridgewater, the choir traveled to Ghana to help that
country celebrate its 50th
year of
Independence. Also, in 2007, the choir was the recipient of
a Mid-Atlantic Arts Foundation grant which help underwrite
performances around the Mid-Atlantic Region. Under the
auspice of this grant, the choir performed throughout the
region with performances at the The Strand Performing Arts
Center in Harrisburg, PA, Strathmore Hall in Rockville, MD,
and the several area colleges including Juniata College,
Delaware State, Frostburg State, Hood College, Harford
Community College, and University of Virgin Islands to
mention a few.
In April 2008, the Morgan State University Choir sang at
Carnegie Hall performing Faure’s Requiem Mass with Bobby
McFerrin and the Orchestra of St. Lukes. October, of the
same year, the Morgan State University Choir returned to
Carnegie Hall, this time with Marin Alsop and the Baltimore
Symphony Orchestra. The BSO featured a seldom performed
piece - Leonard Bernstein’s Mass
-
to celebrate the 90th
birthday of the
composer. The critics proclaimed the choir as “brilliant “
and “refined and spirited as ever” in their presentation.
This past September, the recording of Mass
was
release on Naxos records heralded by critics as the
definitive recording of the work!
In 2009, the choir traveled to two international
destinations. In June the choir sang in Bogotá and
Medellín, Colombia at the invitation of the US Ambassador
to that country. In July, the choir traveled to South
Africa to sing in an international Choral festival. One of
the highlights of the tour was singing Happy Birthday to
Nelson Mandela on his 90th
birthday
celebration on national South African television.
Most recently the choir travelled to China for a ten-day
concert tour. The highlight of the Chinese tour, were two
concerts at the Shanghai Expo - the World’s Fair - at the
American Pavillion again mesmerizing the audience with
their eclectic program mixture of from Beethoven to Michael
Jackson.
The Morgan State University Choir has shared its musical
gifts on many grand stages all over the world – with
numerous dignitaries and celebrated performers – making
them cultural ambassadors for Morgan State University, the
City of Baltimore, the State of Maryland and the United
States. Each spring, the Choir concludes its season at home
with its annual spring benefit concert – which large
audiences enthusiastically anticipate and receive.