The UM Gospel Choir performs a concert in 2012. FILE PHOTO: PHILLIP WALLER
Forty years ago, a group of students came together with an idea for a new kind of group on campus—a choir dedicated to gospel music, its membership open and available to anyone who enjoyed worshipping through music and performance. Members did not have to be trained singers, music majors or otherwise experienced in choral singing — the only requirement was a desire to make a difference in the Ole Miss and Oxford community through gospel music. They called it the Black Student Union Choir.
In 1974, only a little more than a decade removed from the integration of the university, the choir fostered a community for its black members and gave them a concrete place in the larger world of the university community.
Over time, the choir has experienced changes in leadership, membership and sound, as does any choir with such longevity. It has also undergone a shift in nomenclature: the group once known as the Black Student Union Choir is now known around the university campus and the wider Oxford community as the UM Gospel Choir.
The choir has enjoyed great successes throughout its forty years, including a Grammy Award nomination in 2000 for their album “Send Up the Praise.” The choir gives regular concerts and usually boasts a headcount of over 100 dedicated and joyful singers. Justavian Tillman, a junior journalism major and the president of the UM Gospel Choir, has been with the group since his freshman year.
“I was looking for ways to get involved on campus, and gospel choir was one of the first organizations I looked into,” Tillman recalled. “Gospel music has always been a major part of my life. I started singing gospel at a very young age, and I’ve always sung with my church choir, a praise (choir) and several community choirs. Gospel music gives me the opportunity to get away from a long day and just relax.”
Tillman knew as the fortieth anniversary approached that he and the choir wanted to have some sort of special event. In conjunction with Mississippi Freedom Summer, which is celebrating its fiftieth anniversary, the Freedom Series was created.
The four-day Freedom Series has been termed a “communiversity” event by Oxford Civic Chorus artistic director Brooke Worthy, who, along with her group, is also participating in the series.
“The Oxford Civic Chorus is an excellent group of musicians from a variety of backgrounds and occupations, hailing from Oxford and the entire North Mississippi area,” Worthy explained. “Membership is by audition only.”
Worthy sang with the chorus as a student at Ole Miss and was honored when they brought her in as artistic director in 2009. The Oxford Civic Chorus is in many ways a true communiversity effort — founded in 1998 by senior music major Gabriel Statom and music department faculty member Dr. Martha Hitch, the group often includes students from Ole Miss as well as people from the Oxford area.
When preparations began for the Freedom Series, Worthy knew she wanted to present the choir with a significant piece of music that they could, in turn, present to their audience. After an extensive search, she happened upon the composition “Free at Last,” written by Chicago composer Lena McLin in 1974. Worthy was lucky enough to speak with McLin, who explained in detail her feelings toward the piece and the circumstances of its composition.
“Dr. McLin grew up with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.; they were friends. She wrote the piece in his memory,” Worthy said. “She had planned to come down to Oxford to present her work in person. Unfortunately, she cannot join us; however, she has created a video presentation for this concert. She will discuss why she wrote the piece in greater detail and discuss her music career during the civil rights era.”
While the Oxford Civic Chorus considers “Free at Last” the focal, or perhaps vocal, point of their concert, the gospel choir is crafting a story through song for their performance.
“We will be performing ten songs,” Tillman said. “Our closing selection will be ‘Thank Ya’ by Darrel Petties. In selecting that song, we are thanking God for blessing our choir to reach forty years and also thanking our audience and university for their continued support.”
“There are no wrong songs, though,” added Jasmaine Wilbert, a senior biology major, who has been singing with the gospel choir for two semesters now. “They’re all great pieces.”
The UM Gospel Choir has invited all of its alumni to celebrate this milestone performance, and Tillman expects many to visit. “(The Freedom Series is) a one-time event commemorating these milestone anniversaries. These events are very significant to our university and the community.”
In addition to concerts from the gospel choir and Oxford Civic Chorus, the four-day event will feature a plethora of activities. On Saturday, Nov. 15, the UM Gospel Choir will perform its concert at 7:30 p.m. in the Ford Center.
On Nov. 16, tours will be offered at the newly renovated Burns-Belfry Church on Jackson Avenue, which has been a fixture of Oxford since its initial construction in 1867. Retired University of Mississippi Provost Dr. Gerald Walton described the storied history of the building in a short article featured on the Burns-Belfry Church’s website: from 1867 to 1978, the building housed the Burns Church. In 1978, the building was sold, made into office space and renamed “The Belfry.”
John Grisham was the last private owner of the building; he deeded it to the Oxford-Lafayette County Heritage Foundation so that they might preserve the historic building. Plans were made to renovate the church, which had been rebuilt in the Gothic Revival style in 1910. The renovated building now houses a museum and special exhibits pertaining to the church and its close ties with the black community.
“The Burns Church building represents a valuable part of the history of Oxford and the surrounding area, that of the lives of African Americans during the 19th and 20th centuries. By preserving and restoring the building to its current location, it will continue its role as an African American Mississippi Landmark and offer documentation about the lives of the African American community,” Walton wrote.
Monday, Nov. 17, there will be a brown bag civil rights faculty panel in Barnard Observatory at noon and the Oxford Civic Chorus’s performance in the Ford Center at 7:30 p.m. On Tuesday, Nov. 18, the Malco Commons Cinema will offer a free showing of the documentary “Freedom Summer” at 7 p.m.
The decisions of forty and fifty years ago changed what the university was, but the choices it continues to make changes what it is. Join in on the remembrance.
