PODCAST: Inside Berklee—Donna McElroy

Grammy-nominated Berklee Voice Department Professor Donna McElroy, an alumna of the Fisk Jubilee Singers, the leading torch-bearers of the traditional spiritual throughout the world since 1871, both discusses and sings spirituals, joined by students from the Jubilee Spirit Ensemble that she leads at Berklee.

Mike Keefe-Feldman

February 2, 2016

Left to right: McElroy with students Bailey Cunningham, Fabio Giacalone, and Carla Nelson

Photo by Mike Keefe-Feldman

While America has long since cast aside the abomination of slavery, the spirituals sung by those early African-Americans who were enslaved contain not just historical import but immensely relevant meaning in our world today, says Grammy-nominated Berklee Voice Department Professor Donna McElroy, a 1977 alumna of Fisk University and the Fisk Jubilee Singers, the leading torchbearers of the traditional spiritual throughout the world since 1871.

“It’s absolutely imperative that all peoples who are oppressed know of each other in the world,” says McElroy, who will join the Fisk Jubilee Singers in a rare Boston performance at Symphony Hall on Sunday, February 21, at 7:00 p.m. The evening will also include performances by the Boston Children’s Chorus, narration from former Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick and Harvard author Sara Lawrence-Lightfoot, and much more.

In this edition of Inside Berklee, McElroy both discusses and sings spirituals, joined by students from the Jubilee Spirit Ensemble that she leads at Berklee.

Producer: Mike Keefe-Feldman
Engineer: Steve Xia
Recorded at the BIRN Studios