On Tuesday, March 1st, 2005 at 8 pm, the Fisk Jubilee Singers will perform at Haverford College, joined by the Chamber Singers of Haverford and Bryn Mawr Colleges.
The concert will be held in Roberts Hall, Marshall Auditorium on the Haverford College Campus, 370 Lancaster Avenue, in Haverford. The performance is free and open to the public. Parking is also free and the auditorium is wheelchair accessible. For more information call 610.896.1011.
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The Fisk University Jubilee Singers are the first internationally acclaimed group of African-American musicians who attained 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.
In 1871, the nine original Jubilee Singers ensemble toured the United States and Europe. Two years later the group, having grown to eleven members, performed on the second European tour. Funds raised during these international concerts were used to construct the school's first permanent building, Jubilee Hall, which is one of the oldest structures in use at Fisk University and designated as a National Historic Landmark by the U.S. Department of the Interior. This beautiful Victorian Gothic building houses a ceiling-to-floor portrait of the original Jubilee Singers, commissioned by Queen Victoria of England as a gift to Fisk University.
Over the past decade, under the direction of Paul T. Kwami, the FISK JUBILEE SINGERS have traveled extensively, performing for diverse audiences including adults and children. Financial support has come from Pfizer, Inc., the W. K. Kellogg Foundation, Philip Morris, First Tennessee Bank, The Links Foundation and The Links, Incorporated, General Alumni Associations of Fisk University, educational institutions and numerous churches.
The ensemble is made up of students from various disciplines at Fisk University, who come from all over the United States. Paul T. Kwami, the director, was a Fisk Jubilee Singer from 1983 to 1985.
In a recent New York Times review about a performance at the Apollo Theater sponsored by Pfizer, Inc. "The singers were performing to a tough crowd, as restive as any high school assembly. But by the end of the concert the audience was clapping along, and it followed the driving optimism of“Ride the Chariot” with a standing ovation. For the Fisk Jubilee Singers, it was one more successful mission."
