Morehouse, Spelman Ring in Season with Holiday Concerts

The Morehouse and Spelman College glee clubs are serenading audiences this weekend  in the 84th Annual Christmas Carol Concert on the two schools' campuses.

Traditionally held on three nights during early December, the free concerts are a gift from the colleges to the students and greater community. 

Over 7,000 people from all over the southeastern United States attend the concert each year, according to school officials.

Friday's concert, at the Martin Luther King Jr. International Chapel, opened with La Nativite performed by Spelman College organist and Professor of Music, Joyce Finch Johnson.  The two, single-gender choirs marched down the center aisle and onto the stage, framed by sparkling lights and red poinsettias. 

Music professors David Morrow and Kevin Johnson led the Morehouse and Spelman choirs, respectively.  In the concert, student vocalists and instrumentalists performed a range of culturally-diverse selections of holiday pieces, including the Yoruba/Nigerian song "Betelehemu" to the classic hymn,  "Ave Maria."  A favorite among annual attendees was "We Are Christmas," which appeared to touch everyone in the audience – evidenced by the standing ovation immediately following the song.

The choirs exited the stage singing "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing," and once gathered in the foyer, belted out the last high-pitched notes that resounded throughout the chapel. 

The Christmas Concert will be held again at 6 p.m. today, Dec. 5, at the chapel.