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Thursday, March 28
The Indiana Daily Student

arts

Choir to celebrate 40th anniversary

Dr. Raymond Wise, director of African American Choral Ensemble conducts a rehearsal Wednesday at the Neal-Marshall Black Culture Center.

Members of the African American Choral Ensemble lift their hands above their heads to begin warming up, shaking them out while counting in unison. They shake out their feet, still counting, then begin to sing.

Some keep time against their sides and some filter in late, already singing as they walk to their spots. Their sound fills the room.

“Stay focused, stay positive,” said Tiffany Williams, an associate instructor for the class. “Let’s look forward to making some great music.”

She was met with applause, nods and amens.

The AACE’s spring concert Saturday night will celebrate the choir’s 40th 
anniversary with a variety of repertoire from spirituals to popular culture songs, such as “I’ll be There” by the Jackson 5. The concert will also feature AACE alumni for two of the songs.

All past directors and several alumni of the ensemble will be on campus for the event, AACE director Raymond 
Wise said.

Yukari Shinagawa has been a member of AACE for seven years, and Saturday will be her last performance with the ensemble.

“AACE gave me a space where I can forget about everything and focus on what I love to do,” Shinagawa said.

She will have one final performance with the ensemble before handing it over to the next generation, she said.

“I hope I will enjoy every moment on the stage,” she said. “I hope I won’t cry.”

Later this spring, the ensemble will travel to Germany, Wise said. It will be the AACE’s first time performing abroad.

The AACE will perform songs in different languages, including German, in this weekend’s performance, Wise said.

“Since the music has been globalized, we’re preparing to become an international group, a group that has a message,” he said.

Gospel has been globalized for a long time, Wise said, and in the last decade its international popularity has increased. However, AACE performs more than just gospel, with its repertoire including spirituals, blues, jazz — any music written for, by or about African Americans.

“The diversity that we share, we’re not able to only go and share the music, but share it in a way that shows its accessibility to the world,” Wise said.

The trip to Germany will also be junior Kelaiah Awoyemi’s first time travelling abroad. This is her third year in the ensemble.

Awoyemi said she grew up singing gospel in her Baptist church choir. She joined the Indianapolis Children’s Choir in the fourth grade, where she sang classical and European songs. She said singing in the AACE has been a change in perspective for her.

For many years, gospel has been left out of the academy, Wise said. In the last 15 years, he has been involved with developing gospel choirs and curriculum in different universities. He said he hopes to further the gospel program at IU with AACE, the youngest ensemble in the African American Arts Institute.

It’s important to have gospel music available to study formally, he said.

“Within the African-American community, where this music is generally based, those students who demonstrate great gifts and talent, there’s really nowhere that they go to study this music,” Wise said.

Awoyemi said during their time in Germany, AACE will be performing with German ensembles that know the same music and the same artists as 
they do.

“No matter what religion or gender you are, no matter what language you speak, music just brings people together,” she said.

Shinagawa is a doctoral student in the Department of African American and African Diaspora Studies. With her degree, she said she hopes to teach gospel music in Japan to bridge the divide between her culture and gospel music.

She was first introduced to gospel through the movie “Sister Act” when she lived in Japan, where it was very popular, she said. It played on TV every year, and she sang songs from the movie in her high school choir.

Though Shinagawa isn’t Christian, she said the messages of the music she sings in AACE and the experiences she has while performing transcend religion.

“One of the beautiful things about gospel music, and one of the things that allows Japanese people who are not Christian to sing it, is that you feel better singing,” she said. “You feel community. You feel that you belong somewhere.”

The messages in AACE’s music hit the soul, Wise said. They speak to a universal human condition.

“For many people all over the world who share that same struggle, this same message brings hope to them,” he said.

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