Berklee College of Music celebrated the 150th anniversary of Fisk University with a concert performance by the Fisk Jubilee Singers on February 21, 2016. The last time the singers performed at Berklee was in the 1980s. “We were honored and proud to pay tribute to the towering musical and social achievements of the Fisk Jubilee Singers,” said Roger Brown, president of Berklee. Berklee voice professor and former Fisk Jubilee singer, Donna McElroy, hosted and performed with the choral ensemble.
On the program were “There Is a Balm in Gilead,” “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot” and “Soon-A Will Be Done.” Fisk alumnus and Boston poet, Terry E. Carter, wrote the story linking the songs. Deval Patrick and Sara Lawrence-Lightfoot, a Berklee trustee and Harvard professor, author, and sociologist read the narration.
All photographs on this page by Dave Green
See The Berklee College of Music Performance Slideshow
Members of the 2015-2016 Fisk Jubilee Singers choral ensemble.
Fisk students and Jubilee singers perform the Fisk University Alma Mater.
Berklee School of Musical Celebration
Donna McElroy, in a blue gown, celebrates with the Fisk Jubilee Singers as they sing the Fisk University Alma Mater. She is a voice professor in Berklee and a 1977 Fisk graduate.
The choral group performs at Berklee College of Music. The packed audience included Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren.
Maestro Julius P. Williams, a professor in Berklee’s composition department, holds the baton and conducts the 50-piece orchestra accompanying the Fisk Jubilee Singers.
The Fisk Jubilee Singers sing with Donna McElroy during the concert. The young men are in black tie and the young women in elegant black dresses.
