| January 16, News Story
Fisk Jubilee Singers to Perform
On October 6, 1871, a chorus of nine fearful but inspired African American young men and women began a concert tour throughout the United States in an attempt to raise funds for their school. With determined spirits these young people and their teachers shared the music of the spirituals with the world and enabled Fisk University, Nashville, Tennessee, to survive and expand. The Lake Campus of Wright State University is very pleased and honored to be able to bring to our area this internationally-acclaimed group of young people – the Fisk Jubilee Singers.
The Jubilee Singers will appear on Friday, January 31, at the Holy Trinity Catholic Church, 116 East Main Street, Coldwater, at 7 p.m. There is no charge for the performance.
This group of African American musicians has attained first, recognition, then fame, and along the way, financed their school. The talented vocal artists introduced “slave songs” to the world and, in many opinions, preserved this music from extinction. The original nine Jubilee Singers toured the United States and Europe in 1873 and two years later expanded to a second European tour. Funds raised by the Jubilee Singers during their international concerts were used to construct the school’s first permanent building, Jubilee Hall, which is designated as a National Historic Landmark by the U.S. Department of the Interior.
The Jubilee Singers continue to travel extensively and continue the tradition of sharing African American vocal history from slavery to present. Under the direction of Paul T. Kwami, originally of Ghana, West Africa, and a graduate of the National Academy of Music in Winneba, Ghana, the Singers have performed at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, D.C., and at the Apollo Theatre and the historic Plymouth Congregational Church in New York. They have also performed in several places in Italy, notably as part of the Umbria Jazz Festival, and will make an historic trip to Ghana, one of the countries from where Negro spirituals have their roots.
The group has been featured in several television documentaries, including the PBS’ award winning series, The American Experience, in a broadcast titled “Jubilee Singers: Sacrifice and Glory.” The group has been inducted into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame and has received the Presidential Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Arts Club of New York.
Fisk University, founded in 1866 as a liberal arts institution committed to educating the newly freed slaves, has been one of American’s outstanding universities. It is home, not only of the Jubilee Singers, but of a number of distinguished graduates and educators, artists and thinkers. The university is fully accredited by The Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, and owes much credit for its existence to the sacrifice and dedication of the Jubilee Singers.
Notes Lake Campus Student Services Director Stanford Baddley, “The Lake Campus is especially pleased and honored to be able to afford our service area this outstanding opportunity to experience the exciting and inspiring music provided by this remarkable group. Please join us at 7 p.m. at the Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Coldwater in welcoming the Fisk Jubilee Singers to our area on Friday, January 31."
Baddley also notes there is adequate parking available in the parking lot in the rear of the church. You may contact him for more information at 419-586-0354 or 800-237-1477, extension 8354.
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