Two students of Livingstone College in performance. - Contributed
DR. HOPE Davis, the multi-talented Jamaican organist and current chair of the music department, director of concert choirs and associate professor of music at Livingstone College, in North Carolina, United States, is currently leading some 28 members of the award-winning college choir on a nine-day concert tour across Jamaica.
The highpoint of the visit by the ensemble, which will be performing at schools in Portland, St. James and Manchester, is a grand concert today at the St. Boniface Anglican Church, Harbour View, of which Dr. Davis is a member.
Dubbed 'A Feast of Music', the concert, under the patronage of the Suffagan Bishop of Kingston, Rt. Reverend Dr. Robert Thompson, and Mrs. Thompson, will showcase the rich repertoire of the Livingstone College Concert Choir.
Selections for the programme will include gospel, spirituals, vocal jazz and music of the black diaspora.
The choir, which has won the Award of Honour for outstanding service to the college and surrounding communities for six consecutive years, including 2005, has entertained audiences all over the United States and internationally.
Just last year, these musical ambassadors undertook a successful concert tour in Bermuda, West Indies. Known for their very soulful and heartfelt renditions, their performances have also been recorded for posterity.
The Livingstone College Concert Choir is an outreach arm for the college which, through its performances, informs audiences about the institution's programmes, with a view to attracting new recruits.
MUSICAL TRAINING
Dr. Davis, who received her early training and general education in Jamaica, served as organist at the St. Boniface and St. Matthew's Anglican churches, as well as the East Queen Street Baptist Church and First Church of Christ Scientist, before going to study abroad.
Since then, she has attained academic distinction in several music-related disciplines.
She holds a master's degree in music education from the University of Wyoming, and a doctor of philosophy degree from the University of Southern Mississippi.
She was also awarded the doctor of musical arts from the Louisiana State University where she majored in musical composition and organ. The accomplished Dr. Davis pursued post-doctoral studies at Jacksonville State University in Alabama and also earned professional diplomas during a one-year study programme in France.
Dr. Davis' brother and well-known keyboard artiste, Harold Davis, and his musical friends will bring an added dimension to Sunday's concert programme.
He will be joined on keyboard by Alex Martin-Blanken, with Ian Hird on saxophone and flute, Andrew Thompson on drums and Dale Brown on bass guitar.
They will accompany a stellar line-up of vocalists, including sopranos Carole Reid, Maria Myrie and Christine Fisher.
Part proceeds from the concert will go towards financing the music ministry of the St. Boniface Anglican Church.
