Morehouse College Glee Club

The Morehouse College Glee Club, founded in 1911, is the official choral group of Morehouse College.[1] The Glee Club has a long tradition of many notable public appearances, having performed at Martin Luther King Jr.'s funeral, President Jimmy Carter's inauguration, Super Bowl XXVIII, and the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta. The Glee Club's international performances include tours in Africa (Senegal, Ethiopia, Ghana, Uganda, and Nigeria), Russia, Poland and the Caribbean. The group also appeared on the soundtrack for the movie School Daze, directed by Morehouse alumnus Spike Lee (Class of 1979).

History

The Morehouse College Glee Club was founded in 1911, stemming from an established singing tradition at Morehouse. Small musical ensembles, including quartets, are attested at Morehouse as early as the 1870s.[1] From 1903 to 1911, a choral ensemble and orchestra were directed by Georgia Starr, Lucy Z. Reynolds, and Grace D. Walesman. In 1911, upon joining the Morehouse faculty, founding director Kemper Harreld assumed directorship of both groups and founded the Glee Club.[2] Harreld would go on to direct the Glee Club and head the Morehouse music department for 42 years. Under his direction, the Glee Club and Quartet performed at least three times for President Franklin D. Roosevelt.[3]

In 1953, Harreld's student Dr. Wendell Phillips Whalum assumed directorship of the group. Under Whalum's leadership, the group sang at the funeral of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and performed at President Jimmy Carter's inauguration. Whalum led the group on a tour of five African nations in 1972, visiting Senegal, Ghana, Uganda, Nigeria, and Ethiopia.[4] In the fall of 1987, David E. Morrow, a student of Dr. Whalum, became director; under his leadership the group participated in the 1996 Summer Olympics closing ceremonies and sang at Super Bowl XXVIII.

The Morehouse College Glee Club can be heard on the soundtracks to the Spike Lee films School Daze (1988) and Miracle at St. Anna (2008),[5] and in performance with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and Atlanta Symphony Chorus under the direction of Robert Shaw in the 1998 television special Christmas with Robert Shaw.[6]

Since the mid-1920s, its been tradition for the Glee Clubs from Morehouse College and Spelman College to collaborate for an annual Holidays concert in Atlanta every December.[7][8]

Notable alumni

Notable alumni of the Morehouse College Glee Club include:

See also

References
  1. "Morehouse College Glee Club: History". Retrieved 2010-11-01.
  2. Brawley, Benjamin Griffith (1917). History of Morehouse College. p. 128.
  3. van Rijn, Guido (1997). Roosevelt's blues: African-American blues and gospel songs on FDR. p. 39. ISBN 9781604731651.
  4. "Morehouse Glee Club to perform in five African countries". Jet: 23. 1972-02-24.
  5. "Morehouse College Glee Club". IMDb. Retrieved 2010-11-01.
  6. "Christmas with Robert Shaw (1998): Company Credits". IMDb. Retrieved 2010-11-01.
  7. https://aucenter.edu/92nd-annual-morehouse-spelman-christmas-carol-concert/
  8. https://www.hppr.org/post/christmas-morehouse-spelman-glee-clubs-tuesday-dec-24-1-pm-ct
  9. Ruhe, Pierre (2006-12-07). "REVIEW: Christmas with the ASO". Palm Beach Post. Retrieved 2010-11-01.
  10. Congress, U. S. (2003-06-23). "Honoring Maynard Holbrook Jackson". Congressional Record: 15755. ISBN 9780160780523.
  11. "James Stovall, 1957 - 2010". Harlem Arts Alliance. 2010-09-28. Archived from the original on 2010-11-01. Retrieved 2010-11-01.
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