"A Celebration of American Songs" reflects a nation's diversity

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This past Friday, Alexander Twilight Artist in Residence Dr. Francois S. Clemmons and Director of Choral Music Jeff Rehbach led a choir of community singers, students, faculty and staff in "A Celebration of American Song." The concert kicked off Fall Family Weekend, overflowing the Center for the Arts Concert Hall with an enthusiastic audience. The chorus' lively, moving repertoire included selections from Gershwin's Porgy and Bess and traditional American Negro Spirituals and featured several powerful solos by Clemmons. While the music itself was impressive, the true significance of the event rested in its ability to bring people from all over the state and from all over the world together. Clemmons expands on his inspirations and hopes for the night of song and of unity:

"The overarching idea is always to bring the fuller Middlebury community together - students, faculty, staff, townspeople and beyond - it's never a one-man show. There were people who came down from Burlington, from Vergennes and from Bristol to participate - all community members who know Middlebury College, who are involved, who love being here - and they had a chance to sing for the families who come from all over the world. I was really bombarded by so many visitors including parents, siblings, people from around the area who were just so gracious and so pleased with the concert on Friday night. Our goal was to bring everybody together; to work together to share a community experience. People don't often get to come together and relax and talk and sing for each other. It was an enormous success.

It's also exciting because I chose all-American music rather than Bach or Handel or Mozart; I thought it would be nice to do Gershwin and American Spirituals. It was a wonderful opportunity to be able to share that kind of music with our visitors, our guests. The experience [of bringing music to the Middlebury community] is very rewarding. It is very exciting to have an idea and see it grow and to then have the college embrace the idea of honoring the American Song. I'm living my dream, it's truly wonderful."

In addition to this resonant concert, the Chamber Singers and the College Community Chorus will perform again this fall and The Martin Luther King Jr. Choir will perfrom in January.