Roughly 150 singers coming together to celebrate great music composed by African-Americans-that's the theme for Soulfest on Sunday at the Sullivan Performing Arts Center.
Spirituals, gospel and classical music will bring soul and beauty to the proceedings when singers from the Texarkana Regional Chorale, Grambling State University Concert Choir, Liberty-Eylau Varsity Choir and the Chorale Orchestra join forces starting at 4 p.m.
Under the guidance of conductor Marc-André Bougie, the assembled voices will share selections by Rutter, Hogan, Hailstork and others, ranging from "Every Time I Feel the Spirit" to "Ride on, King Jesus" and "When the Saints Go Marching In." The concert is free.
"Soulfest is the anchor program for our Black History Month music celebration," Bougie said, noting the concept came from his wife singing solo in 2017 with the Grambling State University choir. Bougie himself has also worked in the past with Natorshau Davis, that choir's director.
Taking a cue from the name Yulefest furthered the idea, Bougie explained. "The concept of bringing different groups together," he said, in this case to celebrate Black History Month.
"We're able to shake all of this up, bring all of this together, to create this massive musical celebration," Bougie said. "There will be over 150 performers on stage, so it is huge." Musically, the concept is to include various pieces pertaining to the theme and to the African-American traditions and composers.
"This field of music is gigantic, so we'll never run out of materials," Bougie said. "For example, spirituals are a big source of musical inspiration that we can feature in such a concert. Gospel music, which are songs of jubilations, can also be featured. There's also a large number of great African-American composers who have been composing and still compose in the classical tradition."
Such composers include Scott Joplin, who grew up in Texarkana and wrote down his compositions. He's sort of a hybrid between the jazz and ragtime worlds and classical traditions, the conductor explained.
"Joplin wrote everything down," Bougie said. "He was a stickler like that." Among such contemporary composers still alive are Adolphus Hailstork, represented with "The Lord is My Shepherd" in this program.
Spirituals are melodies that date back to the days of slavery, Bougie said, songs sung with simple melodies in the fields. "Songs, tunes, that were passed down generations through the oral tradition," he said. In the late 19th century, after emancipation, these songs began to be notated the way they should be, he said, and arranged for the public.
"There's a folksy aspect, you could say, the sound of the people," Bougie said about spirituals, describing spirituals and gospel as the yin and the yang of African-American musical traditions.
"All of this put together creates a great concert," the TRC conductor said. In all, the concert should total about 60 to 70 minutes without a break. Selections are short and fun.
Grambling's visit to Texarkana includes a Saturday workshop from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the Truman Arnold Student Center Great Room at Texarkana College. They'll also sing for two services at Williams Memorial United Methodist Church on Sunday morning. This little weekend tour here is a chance to get the word out about a strong music program at this historically black college.
"They have a very strong band program, marching band," Bougie said, noting the choir is equally strong.
"I'm very proud to bring them here, to give them an outlet to be heard in this region," Bougie said.
Saturday's workshop at TC is open to all who wish to attend, either as a participant or observer. It will cover vocal technique, choir singing, warm-ups, and simple pieces from the concert program.
"People can come and sit down just to observe," Bougie said. Or they can participate in various ways. "We want to make it an at-large educational event for observers or participants," he said. If interested, just show up to the workshop.