Centennial Concert Brings Joy Through Music
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The Duke Chapel Choir performs with (left to right) Patrice E. Turner, John V. Brown, and Orlandus Perry, during the Our First Lady of Jazz concert on April 14.
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The Duke Chapel Choir performs with (left to right) Patrice E. Turner, John V. Brown, and Orlandus Perry, during the Our First Lady of Jazz concert on April 14.
The Duke Chapel Choir performs with (left to right) Patrice E. Turner, John V. Brown, and Orlandus Perry, during the Our First Lady of Jazz concert on April 14.
A full house at Duke Chapel found joy in a wide range of Black sacred music, from vocal jazz and gospel to spirituals, classical, choral, and the blues. The concert on April 14, part of Duke University’s Centennial Celebration, took inspiration from the jazz musician and composer Mary Lou Williams.
A review of the concert by the Cultural Voice of North Carolina said, “By the end, there were people clapping in their seats and two-stepping in the aisle.”
"The impact of Black spirituality across many genres of music is undeniable, and Duke University’s celebration of Mary Lou Williams was an excellent showcase of this background and diversity in American music,” the reviewer wrote. “The overarching sense of unification was felt in the very last pew, and I applaud the ensembles for a thoroughly uplifting afternoon of music."
Known as “the First Lady of Jazz” because of her influence on twentieth-century jazz, Williams was an artist-in-residence at Duke near the end of her life from 1977 to 1981. A religious revival in her midlife led Williams to begin writing sacred music compositions. One of her settings of the Catholic Mass was performed in Duke Chapel in 1978 as part of a worship service.
Presented by the Chapel, Duke Arts, and the Mary Lou Williams Center for Black Culture at Duke, the concert comprised singers and musicians from Duke, North Carolina Central University, and the Triangle Area:
- The NCCU Vocal Jazz Ensemble, directed by Lenora Helm Hammonds
- John V. Brown, Vice Provost for the Arts at Duke
- Patrice E. Turner, Director of Worship and the Arts at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta and student at Duke Divinity School
- Orlandus Perry, drummer and music educator
- The Duke Chapel Choir, directed by Zebulon M. Highben
Watch a recording of the concert:
Dr. Melodie Galloway, director of visual and performing arts at UNC-Asheville, provided historical context for the performance in a lecture she gave before the concert. Watch her talk, titled "Soul on Soul": The Expansive Legacy of Mary Lou Williams:
Learn more about the life and music of Mary Lou Williams in a conversation with Dr. Galloway for the Chapel’s Sounds of Faith podcast (subscribe on Spotify or Apple Podcasts):
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The pews were full at the concert.
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The pews were full at the concert.
The pews were full at the concert.