The Cry Of Jeremiah!
Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center
Acts
Robert Harris, Composer/Conductor
Robert Harris: Gloria (New York Premiere)
William Powell, DCINY Debut Conductor
Rosephanye Powell: The Cry of Jeremiah
Participating Groups
Auburn University Choirs
The Augustana Collegiate Chorale & Angelus
Heritage Chorale of Eastern North Carolina
The College of The Bahamas Concert Choir
North Shore Community Singers
The Wellington High School Chorus
Saint Viator High School Choir
Winston-Salem State University Choir
Special Guests
Participating Group Directors
Auburn University Choirs
William Powell
Dr. William C. Powell is professor of music and director of choral activities at Auburn University in Auburn, Alabama (USA). He holds degrees from Alabama State University, Westminster Choir College, and Florida State University. At Auburn University, Powell teaches choral-related courses and he conducts the Chamber Choir, Concert Choir, Men's Chorus, and Gospel Choir. He has served as a guest conductor for various choral festivals and for various performances in Italy, at New York’s Carnegie Hall, Walt Disney World, etc. Powell has also given presentations for American Choral Directors Association, Intercollegiate Male Choruses, College Music Society, and others. His choral arrangements are published by Hal Leonard, Gentry Publications, and Oxford University Press.
North Shore Community Singers
Pamela Coster
Saint Viator High School Choir
Kristina Sandrock
Mrs. Kristina M. Sandrock is the choral director at Saint Viator High School in Arlington Heights, IL. She holds a Master's degree in Music Education from Northwestern University, where she studied conducting under Dr. Robert Harris and Professor Victor Yamposky. Mrs. Sandrock also holds Bachelor's degrees in English and Music Education from Northwestern University and Elmhurst College.
Mrs. Sandrock has had an active performance career as a vocalist, performing with the DuPage Opera Theatre for four years and in the symphonic concert of Howard Shore’s Lord of the Rings at the Auditorium Theatre in 2004. Mrs. Sandrock currently performs as a freelance vocalist at churches throughout the Chicagoland area, as well as serving as the music director and a soprano for The Canterbury Carollers, a Victorian caroling ensemble. With the Canterbury Carollers, Mrs. Sandrock had the honor of performing at the White House in 2008 and 2010.
In addition to her performing credits, Mrs. Sandrock is an Illinois State Certified Teacher and has extensive experience music directing, conducting choirs, and teaching music to students of all ages. She has served as music director for many musicals with children's theatres, high schools, and community theaters, and has also taught piano and voice lessons from her private studio in Elmhurst, IL.
Mrs. Sandrock has had an active performance career as a vocalist, performing with the DuPage Opera Theatre for four years and in the symphonic concert of Howard Shore’s Lord of the Rings at the Auditorium Theatre in 2004. Mrs. Sandrock currently performs as a freelance vocalist at churches throughout the Chicagoland area, as well as serving as the music director and a soprano for The Canterbury Carollers, a Victorian caroling ensemble. With the Canterbury Carollers, Mrs. Sandrock had the honor of performing at the White House in 2008 and 2010.
In addition to her performing credits, Mrs. Sandrock is an Illinois State Certified Teacher and has extensive experience music directing, conducting choirs, and teaching music to students of all ages. She has served as music director for many musicals with children's theatres, high schools, and community theaters, and has also taught piano and voice lessons from her private studio in Elmhurst, IL.
Winston-Salem State University Choir
D'Walla Simmons-Burke
Maestra D'Walla Simmons-Burke has held teaching positions in Georgia, South Carolina and presently at Winston-Salem State University where she is the Director of Choral and Vocal Studies for the Department of Music.
Simmons-Burke is the founder of four of the five choral ensembles currently existing within the Music Department at Winston-Salem State University (Winston-Salem State University Women; Schola Cantorum; Complesso Voce' and the renowned Winston-Salem State University Burke Singers). The fifth choral ensemble, the Winston-Salem State University Choir is one of the first student organizations, founded at the university. The WSSU Choir has performed frequently with the Gateways Symphony Orchestra; Winston-Salem Symphony Orchestra, D'Vorak Symphony Orchestra and the New England Symphony Orchestra and is well sought after for its performances of master choral works (i.e…Haydn's Creation; Handel's Messiah; Faure’s Requiem; Rossini’s Stabat Mater; Orff's Carmina Burana & Mozart's Requiem), spirituals and world musics.
Maestra Simmons-Burke has conducted Gabriel Faure's Requiem with the New England Symphony and New England Symphony Chorale at Carnegie Hall. She returned to Carnegie Hall to conduct the Winston-Salem State University Choir in a mini concert. She has also performed internationally with her choral ensembles and as a guest conductor/lecturer (Prague, Czech Republic; Nassau, Bahamas; Accra, Cape Coast & Kumasi, Ghana - West Africa; and soon in Pilansberg, Cape Town and Johannesburg – South Africa). Maestra Simmons-Burke has conducted The 105 Voices of History Concert Choir as a National Conductor at The John F. Kennedy Performing Arts Center and in Nassau, Bahamas (2010). She was also given the 105 Voices of History Kennedy Center Performing Arts Award (2010). Simmons-Burke was one of three conductors who lead the 105 Voices of History Concert Choir in their inaugural performance at the Grand Ole Opry (2012).
Maestra Simmons-Burke's choirs have recorded and produced seven compact disks (In Silent Night; Lift Ev'ry Voice and Sing; I Wanna Be Ready; Hold Fast To Dreams; Pieces of A Dream; Joy To the World; 20th Anniversary Celebration In Honor of D'Walla Simmons-Burke) and a collaborative DVD with Singin' Black and White (Shout Hallelujah!: A New South Gospel Christmas)
Under Simmons-Burke's baton, her choral ensembles have performed for and/or with such regional and national dignitaries as President George W. Bush; Kweisi Mfume; Susan Taylor; former North Carolina Governor James Hunt; Maya Angelou; Dick Gregory, Harry Belafonte'; Patti Austin; Harry Belafonté and Pope John Paul II, to name a few. Her exceptional and diverse vocal and choral pedagogies are continuously demonstrated through the outstanding students she has produced. As a result, Simmons-Burke has been the recipient of several teaching awards such as the Winston-Salem State University Patterson Outstanding Teacher of the Year Award, Winston-Salem State University Cedric Rodney Service Award and The John F. Kennedy Center for The Performing Arts 105 Voices of History National Conductor's Award. Recently, The Recording Academy, in partnership with the GRAMMY Foundation nominated Simmons-Burke for the Grammy's Music Educator of the Year Award for 2014. D'Walla is also the recipient of many community service and performance awards for her national achievements in music
Maestra Simmons-Burke is listed in Outstanding Young Women of America and holds memberships in many other organizations such as the Music Educators National Conference; the American Choral Directors Association; the National Association of African American Studies; the National Association for the Study and Performance of African-American Music; The Intercollegiate Music Association; the National Associations for African American, Asian, Hispanic, and Latino Studies; Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., The Moles, and The Links, Inc.
Simmons-Burke has performed leading roles in such operas as Lost in the Stars; LaTraviata, Amahl and the Night Visitors; The Telephone; The Old Maid and the Thief and has also made numerous guest appearances as a conductor and adjudicator for several high school and middle school All-State/All-County festivals and collegiate choral festivals and workshops. She is often sought after as a sacred music and/or multicultural music clinician/lecturer and soprano.
Simmons-Burke is the founder of four of the five choral ensembles currently existing within the Music Department at Winston-Salem State University (Winston-Salem State University Women; Schola Cantorum; Complesso Voce' and the renowned Winston-Salem State University Burke Singers). The fifth choral ensemble, the Winston-Salem State University Choir is one of the first student organizations, founded at the university. The WSSU Choir has performed frequently with the Gateways Symphony Orchestra; Winston-Salem Symphony Orchestra, D'Vorak Symphony Orchestra and the New England Symphony Orchestra and is well sought after for its performances of master choral works (i.e…Haydn's Creation; Handel's Messiah; Faure’s Requiem; Rossini’s Stabat Mater; Orff's Carmina Burana & Mozart's Requiem), spirituals and world musics.
Maestra Simmons-Burke has conducted Gabriel Faure's Requiem with the New England Symphony and New England Symphony Chorale at Carnegie Hall. She returned to Carnegie Hall to conduct the Winston-Salem State University Choir in a mini concert. She has also performed internationally with her choral ensembles and as a guest conductor/lecturer (Prague, Czech Republic; Nassau, Bahamas; Accra, Cape Coast & Kumasi, Ghana - West Africa; and soon in Pilansberg, Cape Town and Johannesburg – South Africa). Maestra Simmons-Burke has conducted The 105 Voices of History Concert Choir as a National Conductor at The John F. Kennedy Performing Arts Center and in Nassau, Bahamas (2010). She was also given the 105 Voices of History Kennedy Center Performing Arts Award (2010). Simmons-Burke was one of three conductors who lead the 105 Voices of History Concert Choir in their inaugural performance at the Grand Ole Opry (2012).
Maestra Simmons-Burke's choirs have recorded and produced seven compact disks (In Silent Night; Lift Ev'ry Voice and Sing; I Wanna Be Ready; Hold Fast To Dreams; Pieces of A Dream; Joy To the World; 20th Anniversary Celebration In Honor of D'Walla Simmons-Burke) and a collaborative DVD with Singin' Black and White (Shout Hallelujah!: A New South Gospel Christmas)
Under Simmons-Burke's baton, her choral ensembles have performed for and/or with such regional and national dignitaries as President George W. Bush; Kweisi Mfume; Susan Taylor; former North Carolina Governor James Hunt; Maya Angelou; Dick Gregory, Harry Belafonte'; Patti Austin; Harry Belafonté and Pope John Paul II, to name a few. Her exceptional and diverse vocal and choral pedagogies are continuously demonstrated through the outstanding students she has produced. As a result, Simmons-Burke has been the recipient of several teaching awards such as the Winston-Salem State University Patterson Outstanding Teacher of the Year Award, Winston-Salem State University Cedric Rodney Service Award and The John F. Kennedy Center for The Performing Arts 105 Voices of History National Conductor's Award. Recently, The Recording Academy, in partnership with the GRAMMY Foundation nominated Simmons-Burke for the Grammy's Music Educator of the Year Award for 2014. D'Walla is also the recipient of many community service and performance awards for her national achievements in music
Maestra Simmons-Burke is listed in Outstanding Young Women of America and holds memberships in many other organizations such as the Music Educators National Conference; the American Choral Directors Association; the National Association of African American Studies; the National Association for the Study and Performance of African-American Music; The Intercollegiate Music Association; the National Associations for African American, Asian, Hispanic, and Latino Studies; Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., The Moles, and The Links, Inc.
Simmons-Burke has performed leading roles in such operas as Lost in the Stars; LaTraviata, Amahl and the Night Visitors; The Telephone; The Old Maid and the Thief and has also made numerous guest appearances as a conductor and adjudicator for several high school and middle school All-State/All-County festivals and collegiate choral festivals and workshops. She is often sought after as a sacred music and/or multicultural music clinician/lecturer and soprano.