Tuesday, Nov 18, 2014
November 23 concert features contemporary and traditional works from the African American tradition
Westminster Jubilee Singers, conducted by Brandon Waddles, will present “Mary: The Queen of Galilee…Remembering the Virgin Mary” on Sunday, November 23 at 7:30 p.m. in Bristol Chapel on the campus of Westminster Choir College in Princeton, N.J.
The program centers on the Virgin Mary, featuring Dett’s Ave Maria, Crouch’s Always Remember and arrangements of traditional spirituals including Hail Mary, Mary was the Queen of Galilee and Mary Had a Baby. The performance will also include works of Melvin Crispell, highlighting his Real, Thy Name Be Praised and Never Shall Forget. Reflecting on the program, Conductor Brandon Waddles states, “we hope that this journey through song helps bring light to the life, heroism and humanity to Mary….The Queen of Galilee.”
Westminster Jubilee Singers is a very intimate ensemble composed of students who are selected by audition. It is modeled after the historically acclaimed Fisk Jubilee Singers, and its repertoire, while specialized and select, is very diverse and focuses on solo and ensemble artistic expressions from its singers. Part of the college’s Sacred Music Department, the ensemble performs literature that includes African-American spirituals and folk songs; classical music by African-American composers; African chants and dances; gospel music and secular songs. Also explored and performed are works by non-African-American composers, including George Gershwin, Alice Parker, Robert Shaw, Robert Page, Gail Poch, Steve Pilkington and others who have composed and/or arranged music of the African-American experience.
Previous seasons have included appearances at the Music Educators National Conference (MENC) in Kansas City, Kan., and Regional Conference in Baltimore, Md.; the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA) Eastern Regional Convention in Boston, Mass.; a performance with Denyce Graves at New York’s Apollo Theater to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Children’s Defense Fund; a joint concert entitled Living the Dream with Penn State University’s Essence of Joy ensemble as a tribute to Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.; and its Lincoln Center debut performing in An Evening of Choral Artistry presented by the American Choral Directors Association. The ensemble has performed at Carnegie Hall with the New York Pops Orchestra, under the baton of Skitch Henderson, in a concert version of Porgy and Bess. At the New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark, it has presented joint concerts with the Fisk University Jubilee Singers and the legendary Sweet Honey in the Rock.
Brandon Waddles, a Detroit native, holds degrees from Morehouse College and Westminster Choir College. He is a conductor, collaborative pianist and voice coach, as well as a published composer/arranger. Mr. Waddles has has collaborated on stage and in master classes with singers Angela Brown, George Shirley, Donnie Ray Albert, Vinson Cole and Lauren Flannigan. His choral compositions and arrangements have been published with both the Evoking Sound and Westminster Choir College series, and they have been performed by choral ensembles around the country, including the Morehouse College Glee Club and the Westminster Choir. In addition to his choral compositions and arrangements, he has worked as a transcriber of classic gospel songs written by some of Detroit’s legendary gospel writers, to be added to some of the hymnal supplements published by GIA. He has served on various music ministries throughout the country, including Hartford Memorial Baptist Church in Detroit, Mich.; the historic Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, Ga.; and Abyssinian Baptist Church in New York City. In addition to his post at Westminster Choir College, Mr. Waddles currently serves as composer-in-residence at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Princeton and as a member of the music ministry at First Baptist Church of Lincoln Gardens in Somerset, N.J.
Admission is $20 adults and $15 for students and seniors. Tickets can be purchased at the door, through the box office at 609-921-2663 or online at www.rider.edu/arts. Westminster Choir College is located at 101 Walnut Lane in Princeton, N.J. For more information, visit www.rider.edu/arts.
