On the evenings Monday, September 9th and Wednesday, September 11th, the Spelman and Morehouse Glee Clubs shared the stage with the world renowned and Grammy awarded Tabernacle Choir in their performance of “Songs of Hope.” The Concert ran about two hours and consisted of a compilation of Negro Spiritual and Gospel songs. They were led by conductors Mack Wilberg, Ryan Murphy, Morehouse’s Dr. David Morrow, Spelman’s Dr.Kevin Johnson and were accompanied by the Orchestra at Temple Square, along with Spelman and Morehouse’s organists, and on Wednesday’s performance, Kristin Chenoweth made a guest appearance.
The set list for the concert had multiple sections. The Tabernacle Choir opened the show with “Allelujah Fanfare/ Praise to the Lord, The Almighty,” a German hymn written by Joachim Neander and arranged by Mack Wilberg. This hymn was an exciting opening to the show as multiple choir members rang handbells as they sung. Next, the concert proceeded with “Three Allelujahs: Three Songs of Hope and Praise,” this segment consisted of George Handel’s “How Excellent Thy Name” and “Allelujah from Saul” and Alberto Ginastera’s “Allelujah from Psalm 150.” These were followed by “3 Songs from Around the World” which began with a traditional Sephardic wedding song titled “Ah, El Novio No Quere Dinero!,” and segued into “Gamelan” by R. Murray Schafer, ending with an energetic and faster tempo-ed American Folk song by Mack Wilberg titled “Cindy.” The final songs the choir delivered were “Three Hymns of Believers” which included, “Music Everywhere” by Ryan Murphy, “In the Garden” by Austin Miles, and “Standing on the Promises of God” by Russell Kelso Carter. All of the songs that the Tabernacle Choir sang brought joy to the Chapel’s audience and built anticipation for those that took the stage next.
After the choir took the stage, the brothers of the Morehouse College Glee club shared their gifts next. They sang two Gospel Hymns, “Great and Glorious” by Franz Joseph Hayden, and “Jacob’s Ladder” by their conductor Dr. David Morrow. These two songs were motivational and inspiring, containing powerful crescendoes and hopeful lyrics. Subsequently, the Spelman College Glee Club sang three songs beginning with the well known African American Spiritual, “Wade in the Water,” “Children, Go Where I Send Thee,” another Spiritual, and ended with “A Choice to Change the World,” a song famous to Spelman College, as it speaks about the experience of being a Spelman woman and directly relates to the college’s catchphrase.
Once Spelman’s college’s Glee Club received their final applause, they joined together with Morehouse and the Tabernacle Choir to sing “Holy Holy Holy” by John B. Dykes and an emotional rendition of Bob Thiele and George Weiss’ “What a Wonderful World” which brought multiple members of the audience to tears. Spelman continued the concert with “Ella’s Song” by Berniece Johnson Reagon, which is one of insistence and Morehouse followed with a song of perseverance “I Ain’t Got Weary Yet” as their final African American Spiritual.
The concert began to wind down as all singers once again joined together for the whimsy “Songs for the People” and “Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing” which received a standing ovation. As an encore, the Tabernacle performed their Grammy Award Winning performance of “Battle Hymn of the Republic” before ending with everyone once again coming together in song as a heartwarming farewell by singing “God Be With You ‘Til We Meet Again.”
Overall, the concert was magnificent and it was an honor to be a sitting in VIP seating of the audience. Being able to sit in the front row was truly and immersing and unique experience that was certainly like no other. Sitting in close proximity allowed me to feel like I was directly sang to as I would look to my left and make direct eye contact with some the singers. Both King’s Chapel and State Farm Arena are monuments of Morehouse and Atlanta, and experiencing the live singing from widely known groups was truly inspiring as an artist and appreciator of music. Both venues had great turnouts and this is just the beginning of the tours for these performers. At State Farm, the ambiance was vastly different as projections of God’s creation complimented the pieces sung. It was beautiful to see how all soloists became more confident during the second performance and resonated throughout the nearly sold out show. In all honesty, the students had three weeks to prepare as they were balancing adjusting to college life, auditions, and learning arrangements of a new music and group dynamics and as they continue to prepare for tour, it is exciting to be a cheerleader rooting for them along the way.
One Response
I love hearing a concert review from someone who was able to attend both shows in person! Seeing the performances of my SpelHouse siblings always amazes me, and the way you point out how little time they had to prepare for these performances, along with adjusting to the start of a new semester, makes me appreciate how well they performed even more.