Morehouse Men Matter! History is being recorded at this very moment in America’s ledger. Its past includes a collection of sound traditions that liberated people, stirred revolution, offered praise and soothed the soul. This journey through sound will be on display on Tuesday, March 8 – 7:30 p.m. at the Harris Theater for Music and Dance for (205 E. Randolph) when the Chicago Area Morehouse College Alumni Association (CAMCAA) hosts the Morehouse College Glee Club & Quartet for their Spring 2016 concert, “Sesquicentennial Opening Celebration.”
An experience like no other, the CAMCAA promises that this will be a performance not to be missed. The emcee for the evening will be ABC 7 Chicago News Anchor & Reporter, Leah Hope. When offered the opportunity, Ms. Hope quickly agreed to connect to her own Morehouse roots, as her Great-Great-Grandfather, Dr. John Hope served as the fourth President of Morehouse College from 1906 to 1931.
Adding to the affair, the Chicago Area Morehouse College Alumni Association will award two very special honorees in the course of the evening. Receiving the Crown Award for Business and the Arts is internationally acclaimed artist and activist Theaster Gates – Crown Award for contributions to business and the arts and Mr. E. Robbie Robinson, ‘88, Managing Director at BDT Capital Partners to receive the James W. Compton Award for Service.
The Morehouse College Glee Club is America’s oldest all-male collegiate glee club that has sung with noted celebrities such as Stevie Wonder, Aretha Franklin and Natalie Cole. Its musical talents can be heard on the soundtracks to three Spike Lee produced films, School Daze (1988), Miracle at St. Anna (2008) and Red Hook Summer (2012), as well as listened to on ten albums that include the 2011 release Centennial Celebration in recognition of the Choir’s 100th year of musical legacy.
Established in 1911, the distinguished ensemble has a long tradition of public appearances. The Morehouse College Glee Club & Quartet has provided stellar performances throughout the United States and abroad: including presidential performances for Franklin D. Roosevelt (1932), James E. Carter (1977) and George H. W. Bush (1992); at Dr. King’s funeral (1968), Super Bowl XXVIII (1994) and the Olympic Games (1996); and on the National Mall in dedication of the King Memorial (2011). The Glee Club has performed internationally, in Russia (1996), Poland (1998) the Bahamas (2001), South Africa (2008) and Canada (2011).
The Morehouse College Glee Club & Quartet is currently directed by dynamic virtuoso Dr. David Morrow, a 1980 Morehouse graduate and class valedictorian who received a master’s of music degree from the University of Michigan in 1981 and earned a doctor of musical arts degree from the University of Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music in 1995.
Tickets can be purchased by contacting the Harris Theater for Music and Dance Box Office at 312- 334-7777 or www.harris-
theaterchicago.org. For more information on the Chicago Area Morehouse College Alumni Association, go to www.morehousechicago.com.
