Audience members trickled in before Sunday’s Music and Message program and took seats in the pews of Hendricks Chapel. They greeted one another, some giving shout-outs to performers they knew.

Around the start of the 4 p.m. show, a silence fell upon the crowd of about 50 people as they waited for the dean of Hendricks Chapel, Brian Konkol, to speak.

This Sunday’s Music and Message program was dedicated to the celebration of Black History Month. The performance ran from 4 to 5 p.m. and included a spoken word performance, as well as instrumental and choral performances. There were also pieces of jazz and sung poetry.

“It was really nice to have a program that featured all African American composers,” Natalie Draper, an audience member and assistant professor of theory and composition at SU, said. “It is a perfect way to celebrate Black History Month.”

Konkol began the program by stating the goal of the night: to bring people closer to one another. At the end of his welcome, he introduced Syeisha Byrd, the director of Engagement Programs at Hendricks Chapel, who encouraged people to step out of their comfort zone and speak for what they wanted to change in the world.

Soon after the brief introductions came the first choral performance by members of the Setnor Sonority. Some people were dressed in all black while others were dressed robes as they sang the piece “Hold On!” arranged by Eugene Thompson. The group remained in the lower octaves for the majority of the piece and ended with their voices echoing out to the crowd.

Jessica Montgomery, a dual graduate student, performed two poems by Langston Hughes, “Dream Variation” from “Three Dream Portraits” and “Hold Fast to Dreams.” Hannah Ly | Staff Photographer

Paula Johnson, a professor of law at Syracuse University, spoke about the importance of music in the Black community following the group’s performance.

“The program reminds us that music plays in our survival and ability to exist in the world, Johnson said. “For Africana people, this is especially true.”

After speaking on the Black connection to the flute, Johnson introduced the next piece, “Suite for Piano and Jazz Trio,” a fusion of both classical music and jazz. Afterwards, Elaina Palada and Theresa Chen approached the stage.

A combination of both flute and piano filled the chapel, with Chen’s hands hopping around on the piano playing jazz chords while Palada took rests. Palada rocked her entire body to the music she was producing, all while bobbing her flute up and down while she played.

The Black Celestial Choral Ensemble, dressed in black and red robes, came to the front next to sing “There Is No Way” by Ricky Dillard. Snaps from Ashleigh Brown led the way among the small choir as their voices swirled around Hendricks Chapel.

The Black Celestial Choral Ensemble performed songs such as “There Is No Way” by Ricky Dillard at the Music and Messages program. Hannah Ly | Staff Photographer

Soon after, Jessica Montgomery and Anne Laver approached the stage. Montgomery said to the audience that the two pieces she was performing, “Dream Variation from Three Dream Portraits” and “Hold Fast to Dreams,” were both adaptation pieces of poems by Langston Hughes, her favorite poet.

“I think his poetry — he writes specifically for the African American culture and for the people,” Montgomery said after the program. “So, a lot of what he writes I resonate with as an African American woman.”

Montgomery’s soprano voice didn’t need a microphone as it rang out with Laver playing low notes on the piano. During her performance, Montgomery was animated, moving her arms out and moving her body to the pieces that she sang.

The Hendricks Chapel Choir then shuffled into place, singing “Miserere” by Mark Butler. The choir members’ voices layered against each other, with the bass and tenors adding a foundation of low octaves while sopranos and altos built up the performance.

The final performance by combined choirs was the poem “Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing” by James Weldon Johnson. Towards the beginning of the performance, some audience members began to stand up and sing along with the poem that was on the back of their program sheets. The combined choirs swayed their bodies while Brianna Cofield played bass notes that clashed against the voices of the choir.

“The amount of care that the performers put into the works was really nice to see,” Draper said. “It was just exuberant.”

Published on February 10, 2020 at 12:03 am

Contact Christopher: cscargla@syr.edu | @chrisscargs