In today’s performance, we celebrate the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. by artfully connecting iconic texts and musical innovation. May the music guide our collective meditation on poetry and prose as we each consider anew our role in bending “the arc of the moral universe” toward justice.

Appropriately, Lift Every Voice and Sing opens the concert with lyrics penned by James Weldon Johnson, then principal of Jacksonville’s segregated Stanton School. His brother John Rosamond Johnson composed the melody, and a choir of 500 children from the school premiered the song in honor of President Lincoln’s 91st birthday. The poet later credited those children with the work’s enduring legacy: “The school children of Jacksonville kept singing it; they went off to other schools and sang it; they became teachers and taught it to other children.”

The Training Choir presents a trio of songs reminding us that change takes time and cooperation. Count on Me is an instantly recognizable song by Bruno Mars, a Hawaiian artist of Filipino, Puerto-Rican, and Jewish descent. Some have accused him of misusing Black culture, and Mars recognizes the importance of having that conversation: “There’s real merit to what people are saying about Black entertainers not getting their flowers.” He regularly honors the many Black artists who have inspired him, and plainly shares his motivation for championing and performing such music—a purpose that the JCC fully embraces: “This music comes from love, and if you can’t hear that, then I don’t know what to tell you.” Jill Gallina’s Sing to Martin Luther King is a partner song, combining two different melodies that complement each other in harmony. Referencing Dr. King’s famous I Have a Dream Speech and Lift Every Voice and Sing, it exemplifies voices from two communities joined together in love and peace. Lastly, Teresa Jennings’s Road to Freedom reminds us via a gospel rock beat that everywhere we look, there is something each of us can contribute to create a better future.

Next, we explore two sides of hope by composer and arranger Rollo Dilworth. Dreams features text by the poet Langston Hughes, an early innovator of “jazz poetry” and leader of the Harlem Renaissance. Dream-infused harmonies drip to the ground at the slowest possible tempo, perhaps signifying the “broken-winged bird that cannot fly,” while the spiritual Let Me Ride flips the hope coin toward inspiration. Spirituals developed in the 19 th century, created by communities of enslaved people passing fragments of song from one to another. These fragments gradually coalesced into core melodies and lyrics that were sung by voices without instruments, frequently to pass the time while working. Gospel songs date from the Great Migration when Black southerners moved to larger cities to escape harsh Jim Crow laws and terrible economic conditions. Gospel songs are usually accompanied by instruments, influenced by jazz and the blues, and can be credited to individual composers. Dilworth masterfully combines both styles, using the ever-moving left hand of a gospel piano accompaniment to reference Ezekiel’s chariot ride to heaven, the Underground Railroad, and the train-enabled Great Migration.

In 2022, Dan Forrest asked poet Charles Anthony Silvestri to craft “a statement of support for, and allyship with, our Black brothers and sisters (as well as all people of color), resulting in the hauntingly beautiful Let Me Listen. Forrest hopes the work will remind us not to “explain away other people’s experiences instead of seeking to understand experiences that differ from our own,” and instead to listen even more carefully to voices that have been marginalized throughout history.

I Sing Because I’m Happy provides a perfect example of the traditional gospel style. Civilla D. Martin wrote the original text in 1905 in honor of her friends, the Doolittles. Mrs. Doolittle had been bedridden for 20 years, while Mr. Doolittle was confined to a wheelchair. Even so, both were constantly filled with joy. When asked about the secret to their happiness, Mrs. Doolittle replied, “His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me.” Ethel Waters, Mahalia Jackson, and Whitney Houston have released interpretations, but none is more energetic than Kenneth Paden’s version recorded with the Georgia Mass Choir in 1992, now sung by Touring Choir.

Stevie Wonder recorded Higher Ground in a 3-hour burst of creativity for his 1973 album Innerversions. Shortly after recording the song, a car accident left the artist in a coma for four days, and he later reflected, “Something must have been telling me that something was going to happen to make me aware of a lot of things and to get myself together.” Though the lyrics mention reincarnation, it focuses on the idea of learning from our past mistakes and leaving them behind so we can move forward in love.

The next three songs address the ongoing labor of lifting one another up. Reconcile combines English and Swahili text, both of which are translations of the other, honoring the choirs from two continents who commissioned the work. Composer Kyle Pederson writes that a single song cannot “represent all the hard work, investment, and time necessary for lasting reconciliation,” but hopes that the work can be a “jumping off point.” Simon & Garfunkle’s Bridge Over Troubled Water was inspired by a line in Claude Jeter’s gospel song Mary Don’t You Weep: “I’ll be your bridge over deep water, if you trust in my name.” While many artists might simply deny such a connection, Paul Simon chose to do the right thing before being asked (or caught). In addition to thanking Jeter publicly and personally, he financially compensated him for the idea. Lastly, in I Need You to Survive, Hezekiah Walker and The Love Fellowship Choir remind us that human fates are intertwined, echoing John Donne’s “Any man’s death diminishes me,” and Martin Luther King’s “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” As an old country preacher once said, “It’s hard to hate someone you pray for.” Walker might add that it’s even harder to ignore the needs of those we truly love.

The Tuskegee University “Golden Voices” Concert Choir returns to the concept of living in hope regardless of our circumstances. They open with Thou Art God, a choral fanfare arranged by John Ness Beck that challenges us to apply our hearts to the pursuit of wisdom, a task especially appropriate for singers from such an esteemed institution of higher education. Listen for a powerful quotation of Isaac Watts hymn, O God Our Help in Ages Past.

Glory to God in the Highest by James Furman provides an important example of what Dr. Marques L. A. Garrett calls “non-idiomatic compositions by Black composers.” While we love singing spirituals, jazz, R&B, and gospel songs, we must remember that Black composers are not limited to these genres. People of all races create music of all styles, and a work like this one celebrates that diversity. Furman’s composition is a wild ride filled with rhythmic energy, dynamic contrasts, and harmonic twists, perhaps symbolizing the importance of being grateful amidst life’s storms.

In God and God Alone, acclaimed arranger Tom Fettke reimagines Phill McHugh’s 1986 release. This song of praise and thanks for creation encourages us to rest in God’s sovereignty despite “the best and worst of man”.

Henry Francis Lyte began writing the poem Abide with Me when visiting a dying friend in 1820, but he revisited and revised the text in 1847 as the 54-year-old pastor suffered from tuberculosis on his own deathbed. Arranger Moses Hogan wraps these words in his signature, gospel-infused harmonic language, but maintains the structure of a classic hymn. Along the way, he adds fermatas, rests, and other indications to keep the tempo constantly in flux. Sudden dynamic changes and mid-phrase pauses simulate Lyte grasping for breath, and yet fully at peace. In juxtaposing constant surprises against the text, “Thou who changest not,” Hogan teaches us an important life lesson through music, one even more poignant given the young composer’s sudden passing in 2003 at the age of 45.

His Name So Sweet and I Don’ Feel Noways Tired lead us to revival. The fountain likely refers to baptism, a symbol of repentance and rebirth. The sinner, leader, and elder all attest to their love of Jesus and find new joy in that commitment. For Stacy Gibbs, the promise of a “bettuh day a comin’” inspires hope and change. Here, exuberant syncopations provide “hope to shout glory when dis worl’ is on fiyer,” and that hope empowers us to endure the pains of today. Some may wonder why these spirituals are sung with such antiquated diction or worry that this practice is disrespectful. Drawing on the research and advice of African American choral scholars including Dr. Andre Thomas and Dr. Felicia Barber, choirs maintain these traditions to honor the courageous, creative, and oppressed people who first crafted such songs. “Th” is frequently replaced by “d” because most African languages have no “th” sound, and the enslavers denied their captives’ access to education. Dr. Brandon Boyd points out that enslaved people lacked basic medical and dental care, and the resulting injuries and diseases affected their ability to pronounce certain letters. Modernized diction would hide the circumstances that inspired spirituals. Additionally, we should reflect on why one rarely judges a British, French, or German accent negatively, while regularly looking down on those who speak African American Vernacular English or Southern White Vernacular English. Instead, let us learn to love these dialects for the uniquely powerful stories they can tell.

Eric O. Poole’s Don’t You Let Nobody Turn You Aroun’ serves as a fitting tribute to the history of the Tuskegee University “Golden Voices” Concert Choir. The work alternates between guttural cries of encouragement from the soprano soloist and a choral rhythmic march through “good trouble…right into freedom land”. Toward the end, listen for several short, repeated phrases that overlap and interlock. These ostinatos are a clear nod to the spiritual arrangements of William Dawson, especially his classic Ezekiel Saw de Wheel. In addition to being an internationally recognized composer, Dawson graduated from Tuskegee, came back to found their School of Music, and conducted this very ensemble for 24 years.

Lastly, the concert closes with a unified reminder that hope is a journey, not a destination. It is both the currency and the vehicle for change. Unfortunately, hope is also fragile, sustained and fueled only through constant attention. Jim Papoulis teaches us that journeys are easier, more joyful, and more effective when shared, writing, “The only way to change is to take a stand and rise together in our hearts.” We hope that all who have heard our combination of text and music will join us on our Journey of Hope to truly ensure “liberty and justice for all.”

Program notes contributed by Dr. Julian Bryson, Director of Choral Activities at Jacksonville University and Voices of Jacksonville Tenor.