Southern Delaware Chorale hosts Black History Month Choral Festival New partnership initiated with the Southern Delaware Alliance for Racial Justice
The Southern Delaware Chorale is holding their annual “A Choral Tapestry – Celebrating Black History Month” concert Saturday February 24, 2:00pm at Epworth United Methodist Church in Rehoboth Beach. This mini-festival will feature the Southern Delaware Chorale along with three guest choirs. Cantabile Women’s Chorus, conducted by Joanne Ward, is based in Milford. Sussex Tech High School’s Bella Voce is conducted by Southern Delaware Chorale’s Assistant Conductor, Sarah Rose. The final choir will be Georgetown’s Sussex Community Gospel Mass Choir, conducted by Elder Dr. Robert Brown. The concert will open with the Southern Delaware Chorale and all three guest choirs performing a moving rendition of the African-American National Anthem, “Lift Every Voice and Sing.” Each of the four choirs will then perform their own sets of music that will cover a variety of choral music by Black composers, from Spirituals to Civil Rights Anthems to Gospel music.
In addition to celebrating choral music of Black composers and arrangers, a new partnership with the Southern Delaware Alliance for Racial Justice (SDARJ) is being inaugurated. Community engagement is one of the priorities for the Southern Delaware Chorale, so this partnership is an exciting new venture for both organizations. Having SDARJ representation reflects the complex role music plays, including it political role that can help begin an improved dialogue about social justice, racism, and other issues that have been so divisive in the past and the present. Look for information in the lobby of Epworth United Methodist Church before and after the singing on February 24. The Sussex County chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, the oldest established Greek letter organization founded by African-American college-educated women will also be present with information about their fine work and scholarship programs.
Dr. Colin Armstrong, Artistic Director & Conductor of the Southern Delaware Chorale, is thrilled with the collaboration amongst all four choirs and the positive energy that will be created for the audience and chorus members. In addition to celebrating the immense contributions of Black composers and writers, this festival aims to use the common experience of music to bring together racially, economically, socially, and otherwise diverse populations from all parts of Sussex County and beyond. He plans to have this be an annual event the last weekend of February that will eventually be extended into a multi-concert event featuring many more choirs from southern Delaware and beyond.
