Vox Philia will present its annual Black History Month concert later this month, bringing together multiple choirs from Berks County and surrounding institutions for a collaborative choral performance.
The concert is scheduled for Saturday, February 28 at 4 p.m. at Immanuel UCC, 99 S. Waverly Street in Shillington. The event will feature Vox Philia alongside the Penn State Berks Campus Choir, Kutztown University Choir, Muhlenberg College Choir, Wilson High School Choir, Schuylkill Valley High School’s Valley Voices, and the Berks Youth Chorus, including its MasterSingers as well as the combined Chorale and Choristers.
Each ensemble will be led by its respective director, including David McConnell, Derrick Thompson, Victoria Pitre, Emily Fredericks, Jarrod Miller, Dan Behler, and Grace Mittleman and Michael Adams Megan.
The participating choirs will join together for several selections during the program, highlighted by the regional premiere of Nathaniel Dett’s “The Chariot Jubilee.” Written in 1919, the work sets a text assembled by Dett from the Bible, Black spirituals, and folk songs and is performed by a solo tenor, choir, and small instrumental ensemble. Both the tenor and instrumental ensemble are from Kutztown University and will perform under the direction of Derrick Thompson, the university’s director of choral activities.
Following its original premiere, the orchestral score for “The Chariot Jubilee” was lost. In the 1980s, scholar Hale Smith recreated the orchestral parts, which led to a new premiere by the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and Chorus in 1998.
Organizers said the remainder of the program will feature a broad selection of works highlighting historic and contemporary Black composers and writers.
Tickets for the concert are $15 for adults and $5 for students and can be purchased online or at the door.
Vox Philia is a nonprofit chamber choir serving Reading and Berks County communities. Additional information about the organization is available on its Facebook page.
