In Feb. we will celebrate Black History month and diversity. On Feb. 3, we will have a jazz duo playing hymns of African Spirituals. The choir will sing “Prayer of the Children” by Kurt Bestor. The composer lived in then “Yugoslavia” in the 70s when the Croatians, Bosnians, Serbians were all friends. But when the civil war broke out in the 90s, the people of different groups became enemies, and the children were the ones who really suffered. The music began to form in his head, “Can you hear…the prayer of the children?” This song became a big hit.
On Feb. 10, we will hear songs from Gospel singer, Olshon Temple. Olshon is a Math teacher at Hackley, and sings solo concerts frequently in different venues.
On Feb. 17, we will feature our scholarship student Njioma Grevious from the Juilliard School. She is an enormous natural talent, currently a sophomore major in violin performance. The choir will sing a Yiddish folksong, “Song of the Sea” which speaks of Moses passing through the Red Sea with the people of Israel. From slavery to freedom, from sin to forgiveness, from death to life, all of which is rooted in this story.
On Feb. 24, Bari Mort will be our guest organist/director. The choir will sing an anthem in a Gospel style, “Hear Me, Redeemer.” We will feature 3 soloists from our choir, Alan Pike, Kathy Browning, and Tony Tenoglia.