College of The Bahamas Choir Plays Leading Role
in Stateside Music Festival
Photograph shows Mrs Patricia Ellis, College of The Bahamas Choir Director (centre), with the choir.
The College of The Bahamas Choir made a huge contribution to the success of the 17th Annual South Eastern African American Collegiate (SEAAC) Music Festival, hosted by South Carolina State University. Participating in the event for the ninth consecutive year, The College of The Bahamas choir members joined three other university choirs and earned plaudits for their mastery of the music studied and were often asked to demonstrate sections of the music that were problematic to the other students.
The SEAAC Music Festival brings together university choirs for three days of intensive study of the Choral Literature of two major African American composers, Dr Uzee Brown Jr. and Willie Character, both natives of Georgia. It culminates in a grand concert with all four choirs combining to perform works by Brown and Character conducted by the two composers.
The Bahamian National Anthem, "March On, Bahamaland", was performed by the combined choir at the grand concert after our own choir had been asked to perform it in rehearsals to allow the other choir members to hear it in preparation and learn how to sing it.
The College choir director, Mrs Patricia Ellis, was thrilled to be given the privilege of conducting an hour long rehearsal of two of Dr Brown's works, Travellin' Shoes, a traditional spiritual, and Dide Ta Deo, a Nigerian folk song. She also directed the combined choir in singing the Bahamian National Anthem.
The Bahamian students, both music and non-music majors, benefitted greatly from the experience of working directly with composers. They developed the confidence in their abilities and they represented The College and their country well because of the work they put into the preparation of the repertoire before going to the Festival.
The festival organizing committee has invited The College of The Bahamas to host next year's SEAAC Music Festival and Mrs Ellis believes we can do a stellar job because the newly renovated Performing Arts Centre will be fully operational by then. The new centre will be the central focus for the workshops and the final concert and Mrs Ellis feels that The College can make it a festival to remember just as it did when it hosted the festival in 2003.
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The College of The Bahamas
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