- PERFORMANCE INCLUDES GUEST SINGERS FROM CORAL REEF HIGH SCHOOL CHORAL -

(BLACK PR WIRE) – (MIAMI, November 6, 2013) – Fisk Jubilee Singers from Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee perform classic spirituals with guest singers from the Coral Reef High School Choral on Saturday, November 9 at 8pm. Tickets are $20-$37.50. A limited number of $10 youth tickets are available for ages 12 and under. To purchase tickets visit www.smdcac.org or call the Box Office at 786-573-5300. The Center is located at 10950 SW 211 Street, Cutler Bay. A limited number of $5 tickets are also available to students ages 13-22 through CultureShockMiami.com.

In the chaotic decade following the Civil War, a group of young ex-slaves in Nashville, Tennessee, set out on a mission to save their financially troubled school by giving concerts. Traveling first through cities of the North, then on to venues across Europe, the Jubilee Singers introduced audiences to the power of spirituals, religious anthems of slavery. Driven to physical collapse and even death, the singers proved more successful, and more inspirational than anyone could have imagined. Today, performing nationally at venues like the Apollo Theater, this a cappella group stands on the shoulders of the original Jubilee Singers, continuing their legacy of performing Negro spirituals. 

Dr. Paul Kwami, Musical Director for the Jubilee Singers, will hold workshops with students from Avocado Elementary in Homestead as well as with students at Coral Reef High School. 

About the Fisk Jubilee Singers®

Fisk University opened in Nashville in 1866 as the first American university to offer a liberal arts education to “young men and women irrespective of color.” Five years later the school was in dire financial straits.

George L. White, Fisk treasurer and music professor then, created a nine-member choral ensemble of students and took it on tour to earn money for the University. The group left campus on October 6, 1871. Jubilee Day is celebrated annually on October 6 to commemorate this historic day.

The first concerts were in small towns. Surprise, curiosity and some hostility were the early audience response to these young black singers who did not perform in the traditional “minstrel fashion.”

One early concert in Cincinnati brought in $50, which was promptly donated to victims of the notorious 1871 fire in Chicago. When they reached Columbus, the next city on tour, the students were physically and emotionally drained. Mr. White, in a gesture of hope and encouragement named them “The Jubilee Singers,” a Biblical reference to the year of Jubilee in the Book of Leviticus, Chapter 25.

Continued perseverance and beautiful voices began to change attitudes among the predominantly white audiences. Eventually skepticism was replaced by standing ovations and critical praise in reviews. Gradually they earned enough money to cover expenses and send back to Fisk.

In 1872 they sang at the World Peace Festival in Boston and at the end of the year President Ulysses S. Grant invited them to perform at the White House.

In 1873 the group grew to eleven members and toured Europe for the first time. Funds raised that year were used to construct the school’s first permanent building, Jubilee Hall. Today Jubilee Hall, designated a National Historic Landmark by the US Department of Interior in 1975, is one of the oldest structures on campus. The beautiful Victorian Gothic building houses a floor-to-ceiling portrait of the original Jubilee Singers, commissioned by Queen Victoria in during the 1873 tour as a gift from England to Fisk.

The ensemble continues to travel around the world, singing the Negro spiritual and representing Fisk University. The two time Grammy Nominated Fisk Jubilee Singers® have won a Dove Award and have been inducted into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame as well as the Music City Walk of Fame. By a special invitation from the United States Department of State, the Fisk Jubilee Singers traveled to Ghana for the first time in 2007, where they performed to celebrate the 50th Independence anniversary of Ghanaians. This journey was historic and became known as “A Sacred Journey”. One of the venues where the performances took place was on the grounds of Elmina Castle. In 2008, the Fisk Jubilee Singers were awarded the 2008 National Medal of Arts by former President George W. Bush at the White House. Other awards of the ensemble include the Governor’s Award, the Recording Academy Honors and the Heritage Award of the Nashville Music Awards.

The South Miami-Dade Cultural Arts Center, designed by an internationally-acclaimed design team that includes Arquitectonica International, Inc. (architects), Fisher Dachs Associates, Inc. (theater design), Artec Consultants, Inc. (acoustics), and AMS Planning & Research Corp. (theater management), provides, for the first time, a state-of-the-art cultural venue and community gathering place in the southern part of Miami-Dade County. The Center features prominent works of art created by Miami artist Robert Chambers who was commissioned by Miami-Dade County’s Art in Public Places program to design a kinetic light wall and sculptures for the theater. The Center is an integral part of the economic and cultural development of the area, offering quality artistic programming and community accessibility.

The South Miami-Dade Cultural Arts Center is managed by the Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs, with funding support from the Office of the Miami-Dade County Mayor and Board of County Commissioners. The Center is dedicated to presenting and supporting arts and culture and providing access to the arts to the entire Miami-Dade County community.

The Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs and the Cultural Affairs Council develop cultural excellence, diversity and participation throughout Miami-Dade County by strategically creating and promoting opportunities for artists and cultural organizations, and our residents and visitors who are their audiences. The Department directs the Art in Public Places program and serves its board, the Art in Public Places Trust, commissioning, curating, maintaining and promoting the County’s art collection. The Department also manages, programs and operates the South Miami-Dade Cultural Arts Center, a campus of state-of-the-art cultural facilities in Cutler Bay, as well as Miami-Dade County Auditorium, Joseph Caleb Auditorium and the African Heritage Cultural Arts Center, all dedicated to presenting and supporting excellence in the arts for the entire community. Through staff, board and programmatic resources, the Department, the Council and the Trust promote, coordinate and support Miami-Dade County’s more than 1,000 not-for-profit cultural organizations as well as thousands of resident artists through grants, technical assistance, public information and interactive community planning. The Department receives funding through the Miami-Dade County Mayor and Board of County Commissioners, The Children’s Trust, the National Endowment for the Arts, the State of Florida through the Florida Department of State, Division of Cultural Affairs and the Florida Council on Arts and Culture, and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. Other support and services are provided by TicketWeb for the Culture Shock Miami program, the Greater Miami Convention and Visitors Bureau, the South Florida Cultural Consortium and the Tourist Development Council.