Education – Jones High School presents “Messiah”

Your greatness Accords no escape Fate resolute It is volitional, Address your destiny, Divinely trumpeted Harmoniously selected, Gracefully composed Instruct, conduct, crescendo Herald future generations Your seat in The Master’s orchestra Commands you, Perform

Tickets are $10 and may be purchased through Eventbrite online at bit. ly/JHSMessiah50 or at SupportJonesHigh.com. For more information about JHSF or to donate in support of MESSIAH 50, go to SupportJonesHigh.com or call 321-310-8346.

MESSIAH-50

JONES HIGH SCHOOL CONCERT CHOIR AND THE ORLANDO PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA MARK 50 YEARS OF A HOLIDAY TRADITION. BY VALADA FLEWELLYN

Outstanding performance is the hallmark of the Jones High School Concert Choir (JHSCC). Thursday, December 8, 2022, will mark MESSIAH-50, the 50th anniversary of the choir’s performance of Handel’s “Messiah” with orchestra. George Frideric Handel composed the oratorio in 1741 and it is one of the best-known and most frequently performed choral works in Western music. JHSCC, directed by Andrea Hires Green, will join the Jones High School Alumni & Community Choir directed by Cicely Youngblood, and the University of Central Florida Singing Knights and Orlando Choral Society, both directed by Jeffery Redding, Ph.D. The four choirs will be accompanied by the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra, with Musical Director Eric Jacobsen. Additionally, the Jones High School String Orchestra will play the “Jones High School Hymn,” which was penned and composed by Thomas Collier, a 1943 JHS graduate. The arrangement for orchestra is by Carl MaultsBy, DFA. What makes this 50th Anniversary performance not only heartwarming and historic, but also unique, is that the three choir directors all are Jones High School graduates and proteges Edna Sampson Hargett, a 1952 graduate who served as choral director for 37 years. JHSCC began around 1922 under the musical leadership of Mattie Rigel. Over the years, JHSCC has developed a diverse repertoire from opera to standard choral works to gospel. Its reputation for performing at the highest possible professional choral standard is widely known. Green carries on the tradition of excellence and instills in the students the motto, “Think superior, act superior, be superior, sing superior plus!” The impetus for this holiday tradition was a successful musical collaboration between JHSCC and the Florida Symphony Orchestra (FSO) in 1971 at Walt Disney World’s first Christmas Candlelight Service. After much community applause, JHSCC Director Edna Sampson Hargrett and FSO Director Herman Hertz were inspired to plan a collaborative performance the following season. The result was the 1972 JHSCC and FSO concert of Handel’s “Messiah,” thus beginning a tradition. The annual Messiah performance continued in the community as a JHSCC tradition under Hargrett’s handpicked successor, protégé and JHS alumna, Darlean Coleman. From 2000 to 2007, Coleman also continued the choir’s collaboration with FSO successor Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra, notably under the baton of Christopher Wilkins. However, with the sudden demise of Coleman in

Guest Choir Director Cicily Youngblood Choir Director Andrea Green Guest Choir Director Jefferey Redding, Ph.D.

2007 and of Hargrett in 2010, JHSCC went through a series of directors and left the annual community presentation of Messiah in limbo. A 2012 “Street Designation Unveiling Ceremony Honoring Mrs. Edna Sampson Hargrett,” organized by Florida Rep. Geraldine Thompson, brought together several JHSCC alumni, including the newly appointed Green. With her was Redding, who received the 2019 Grammy Music Educator Award. For the choristers, the event rekindled a flame for singing as a group. To further their connection for the upcoming concert, MaultsBy sat down with Director Green to learn how music inspires her. MaultsBy is professor emerita of Ethnomusicology in the Department of Folklore and Ethnomusicology and director of the Archives of African American Music and Culture at Indiana University. The interview was commissioned by and is exclusive to ONYX Magazine; and is edited by Valada Flewellyn.

Maultsby: What was your first exposure to music?

Green: Singing with my family in the choir. I started piano at 6 under Mrs. Gloria Green. I wanted to be a music teacher like Mrs. Green, an elementary music schoolteacher who taught private lessons. She had a studio in her home.

Past Choir Directors Mattie Rigel, Ethel Wooden, Thomas C. Collier, Catherine Helms, Lessie Brayboy Weaver, Beverly McGowan Hicks, Roderick Williams, Helen Morrison, Roberta Bacon Manuel, Norman Choice, Edna Sampson Hargrett (Weaver’s protégé), Darlean Coleman (Hargrett’s protégé), Christopher Simms, and Terrance Lane.

MaultsBy: Who encouraged you? Green: My mother.

MaultsBy: What inspired your mother’s interest in music?

Green: She used to play an instrument. She was in the band. She did not play the piano but wanted me to.

MaultsBy: You became a choral teacher. Tell me about your exposure to singing.

Green: My father was a minister. We would always sing in the church choir. I was in the choir in middle school. When I got to Jones, I did not want to be in the choir. My dad was a member of the marching band under “Chief” (James Wilson). My dad told Mrs. Hargrett that I could be the student accompanist. On the first day of school, Mrs. Hargrett called my house and told my dad, ‘Andrea was not in class today.’ He handed me the phone. “Oh no Mrs. Hargrett, I don’t have you as a class. ‘I know, said Mrs. Hargrett. I have already changed your schedule, be sure to get to school at 7:15 for choir practice.’ I sang alto in the choir.”

MaultsBy: You took part in two traditions, European classical and Gospel.

Green: When I first sang in the church choir, I had an advantage that I could read music, most choirs learned by ear. I am grateful for it now. I was in the youth choir. I learned everything by ear. Dad was assigned to a church in Oviedo. The three of us were the members. He had to start a church. I became the piano player. My aunt Rosa Ross taught me how to play, she started me in the key of F. Mom was praise and worship leader. Miss Arlene started helping me and I became section leader. It also helped me in the Gospel world. I could hear the part before I see it. We liked to sing by rote but when you can do both it is so much better.

MaultsBy: How did you know you wanted to be music teacher?

Green: Mrs. Hargrett changed my schedule, and now I am grateful. I knew I wanted to go to FAMU — that that is where my family went. It was my only choice. I did not want to major in music. I wanted to make my own decision. I was an accounting major. I got my schedule, it was a lot of math, so I decided I wanted to be a nurse, and it was a lot of science. My mom said you should do music, but I wanted to try something different. So, I was undecided my freshman year. Mrs. Hargrett said that I should apply for a scholarship. I got in the choir, and I loved it. I like traveling. Then I got in the FAMU Connection. That was musical theater which recruited from the choir. I absolutely loved it, so I finally changed my major to music. I fought it for a long time.

MaultsBy: What are some of the highlights of your career?

Green: I was “Teacher of the Year” twice. I have so many acknowledgements. Our choir went to Carnegie Hall by way of the “Ellen DeGeneres Show.” I received an email or phone call and they [the choir and band] were invited to perform at Carnegie Hall. We started putting together plans for fundraising. Our Alumni and the JH Foundation teamed and met every Tuesday. The cost for the trip was $200,000. We sang at every church. We raised $100,000. (Ellen DeGeneres and Walmart Foundation gave the remaining $100,000).

Like Mrs. Hargrett, I insist my students memorize their music. When you memorize, you can be more musical. (At Carnegie Hall) we had a spotlight. We opened up for the concert. My students noticed all of the other students had their music. We did not need music. We did our work; we came to perform. We are judged by what they see, but when we open our mouths, every time we go to a competition, we sing in Latin, we sing renaissance music. Wherever we go we get a standing ovation. It is just that we are Black, and they don’t expect it. We don’t sing to impress. We sing to inspire.