The Greenbrier Valley Chorale’s annual spring concert will feature spirituals, gospel hymns and slave songs that speak to the struggles of African Americans who looked to their religious faith and resilient spirit to help them endure the suffering and indignities of slavery.
The concert will take place on Sunday, Apr. 30, at 3 p.m. at Carnegie Hall in Lewisburg.
The chorale is excited to welcome Jason N. Brown as guest soloist for this concert. A native of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, Brown has performance and recording credits including the American Spiritual Ensemble, Louisville Bach Society, Kentucky Bach Choir, UK Symphony Orchestra, UK Opera Theatre and Lexington Singers.He holds degrees in music from the University of Kentucky and West Virginia University. Until recently Brown was a part of the music scene in Morgantown, where his wife was choir director at Suncrest United Methodist Church and where he directed both community and university ensembles. He was recently named director of music at Lyttleton Street United Methodist Church in Camden, S.C.
Brown will perform with the Chorale on the spiritual “My God is Rock,”arranged by Alice Parker and Robert Shaw, and the rousing folk song “In Dat Great Gittin’ Up Morning’,” arranged by Jester Hairston. He also will perform Lena McLin’s “Hold out Your Light.”
The spiritual “I Know I Been Changed,” arranged by Roy L. Belfield, Jr., will feature a solo by chorale member Carrie Honnaker. Arranger Belfield noted that these old spirituals are “some of the most beautiful contributions made by African-American during a time of pain and suffering. It was through these cathartic songs that an unhappy people calmed their fears, nourished their wounds, and prayed for deliverance.”
In addition to other spirituals and gospel songs, the concert will highlight the women singing “Run Children Run,” based on a slave field yell, and the men performing “Yellow Bird,” a jaunty Calypso-infused tune that made the pop charts in the 1950s. The program also includes two songs the Chorale performed in a recent joint concert with choirs from Greenbrier East High School and Fairmont State University, and also Stephen Paulus’ lovely adaptation of “The Road Home.”
The chorale is directed by Barbara Wygal Lutz and accompanied on piano by Teresa Bryant. The group, made up of 50 volunteer singers from across Greenbrier County and beyond, has a reputation throughout West Virginia for the high caliber of its performances.
Concert tickets are $15 for adults and $5 for students in grades K-12. Tickets may be purchased from chorale members, online at www.greenbriervalleychorale.org, or at the door. The chorale also will perform this concert at the Ritz Theater in Hinton at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, May 2. Tickets for the Hinton performance are $10 and will only be available at the door.
Concert sponsors are Tim, Holbrook, Swan James and David and Barbara Elliott. The Greenbrier Valley Chorale also receives financial assistance from the Greenbrier County Commission Arts and Recreation Fund and from individual contributors. Carnegie Hall is ADA compliant.
