Past Special Activities and Events
In addition to seasonal performances throughout central Oklahoma, members of Spiritful Voices have participated in the following special activities and events:
Shawnee Press 70th Anniversary Concert at Carnegie Hall in New York City
Dozens of members of Spiritful Voices Community Choir traveled to New York after being invited by Austin composer Joseph M. Martin to participate in the 70th Anniversary Gala of Nashville-based choral music publisher Shawnee Press on June 6, 2009. The evening concert featured two festival choirs of 300 voices each, formed from adult community and church choirs from throughout the world.
Tenth Anniversary Celebratory Concert at the Oklahoma State Capitol
Spiritful Voices Community Choir launched its 10th anniversary season with a special celebratory concert on April 6, 2009, in the first floor Rotunda of the State Capitol. The event reunited with dozens of past choir members, many of whom hadn’t sung together in nearly ten years. The Honorable Judge Carol M. Hansen of the Oklahoma State Court of Civil Appeals was the featured speaker at the event.
United States Navy Band Sea Chanters Chorus Concert
Spiritful Voices Community Choir co sponsored a free public concert of the U.S. Navy Band Sea Chanters Chorus as part of the group's 2009 National Tour. More than 1,500 area residents attended the performance at the newly renovated Putnam City High School Auditorium on March 6, 2009. The premier 20-voice Navy chorus, based in Washington, D.C., was accompanied by a three-piece rhythm section, and performed a wide variety of music, ranging from patriotic selections to Broadway show-stoppers. In addition to singing The National Anthem at the 56th Presidential Inaugural Ceremony on January 20, 2009, the official chorus of the U.S. Navy frequently sings at the White House, the Vice President's house, and for dignitaries at Washington embassies.
Oklahoma Educational Television Authority (OETA) Festival Telethon
Every year since 2002, members of Spiritful Voices volunteer to answer telephones and accept pledges from Oklahomans during OETA Television’s Festival week. During our choir’s typical five hour on-air shift, we have helped raise as much as $40,000.00 for the local PBS affiliate. Televised interviews with OETA personalities such as Gaylon Stacy, B.J. Wexler, Robert Allen, Kimberly Brasher, and others, also help promote Spiritful Voices during the statewide public broadcasting network’s annual telethon.
Glenn E. Burleigh Tribute Concert
Spiritful Voices Community Choir was joined on stage by the Corpus Christi Catholic Church Choir as well as several solo artists to pay tribute to the late Oklahoma composer, Glenn E. Burleigh, in a free concert at the Ronald J. Norick Downtown Library on December 14, 2008, the one-year anniversary of Burleigh’s untimely death. The composer's sister, LaVonne Burleigh of Ft. Worth, Texas, performed her brother's arrangement, "Let the Redeemed Say So". Glenn E. Burleigh was a native of Guthrie, and lived in Oklahoma City until his death in 2007. Burleigh was 58. During his lifetime, he wrote hundreds of compositions for vocal soloists, choir, and orchestra. He was an internationally known conductor, pianist, and clinician, who will be best remembered for his African-American spirituals. Since its founding in 1999, Spiritful Voices has performed several of Burleigh’s songs including "Jesus Is a Rock In a Weary Land," "Magnify", "Nia" and "Order My Steps". Other performers at the tribute concert included pianist Adam Ledbetter, bass soloist David Anderson, and colortura soprano Bonita Franklin, Professor of Vocal Music at Langston University.
2008 SWACDA Convention Honor Choir in Kansas City
Selected members of Spiritful Voices Community Choir traveled to Kansas City to represent the State of Oklahoma at the 2008 Southwestern Division Convention of the American Choral Directors Association (SWACDA). The singers from Spiritful Voices joined more than 150 other choristers from Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Texas, and Colorado to comprise the first ever Community and Church Honor Choir at the prestigious biennial conference. This premier chorus was directed by Dr. Mack Wilberg, conductor of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. After two days of rehearsals, the multi state choir presented an evening concert to a "standing room only" crowd at the historic Grace and Holy Trinity Cathedral in downtown Kansas City.
"Festival of Music" at Putnam City High School in Warr Acres
Spiritful Voices Community Choir headlined "Festival of Music" on December 8, 2001, joining musicians from throughout the metropolitan Oklahoma City area. The family holiday celebration featured Oklahoma’s own Jazz saxophonist and recording artist Brian Gorrell, baritone soloist June Carter, pianist Tim Catlett, Women of Crossings’ Chorus, and Putnam City High School’s Mixed Choir. Two performances were presented at Putnam City High School’s Auditorium in Warr Acres. Proceeds from the event, which was produced by Spiritful Voices, benefited the show’s two sponsors, The Francis Tuttle Foundation and Deaconess Hospital.
"Homecoming" CD Recording
In 2005, Spiritful Voices Community Choir released its debut compact disc, "Homecoming". The album is a compelling collection of contemporary secular and sacred choral music. The CD was recorded over a one year period at the Oklahoma Opry Recording Studio in Capitol Hill and features the 50-voice adult chorus and selected soloists, accompanied by the choir's own instrumental group. Songs on the choir’s CD include "You Raise Me Up", "I Love a Piano", "O Magnify", "Et In Terra Pax", "The Scarlet Tide", "Nia", "They Can't Take That Away from Me", "The Mansions of the Lord", and a medley of songs from the hit Broadway musical "Les Miserables". Also featured is the debut recording of a haunting new song from famed composer Joseph M. Martin entitled "The Homecoming," with lyrics based on the poem "My Childhood Home I See Again", by Abraham Lincoln. The CD is available for purchase on this website or at Pender’s Music, 4401 NW 63rd St., in Oklahoma City.
