Fayetteville State University Concert Choir to Perform at Carnegie Hall in Spring 2023

Fayetteville State University Concert Choir led by Director Denise Murchison Payton will take the stage at
Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage at Carnegie Hall this April under the baton of Maestra D’Walla
Simmons-Burke. The choral ensemble will be joined by singers from around the country in
Rosephanye Powell’s powerful original choral work, The Cry of Jeremiah with the New England
Symphonic Ensemble (Preston Hawes, Artistic Director) and distinguished soloists. The
production is part of MidAmerica Productions’ 40th annual concert season. The other portion of
the concert will include Homestead and Shorewood High School Chamber Orchestra under the
shared baton of Karen Frink and John Emanuelson as well as the New York Premiere of
Pre-Existing Condition by composer/conductor Stephen Caldwell.

“Fayetteville State University Concert Choir received this invitation because of the high level
and quality of musicianship demonstrated by the singers,” said Peter Tiboris, General Director
and Music Director of MidAmerica Productions and MidAm International. ”We are thrilled to have
them on our roster of distinguished and esteemed musicians.”

The experienced American choirs performing on the concert include;
North Carolina Central University Choir (Roberta A. Laws, Director)
Voorhees University Choir (Rachel Jones, Director)
Fayetteville State University Concert Choir (Denise M. Payton, Director)
Burke Chorale/Winston-Salem State University Choir (D’Walla Simmons-Burke, Director)
Apple Valley High School Choirs (Joel Beyer, Director)
Huston-Tillotson University Concert Choir (Gloria Quinlan, Director)

The singers will spend five days and four nights in New York City in preparation for their concert.
They will also spend nine to ten hours in rehearsal as well as touring New York City. They will
be performing at Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage at Carnegie Hall on Saturday, April 9th at
2:00 p.m.

ABOUT THE CRY OF JEREMIAH
Commissioned by the American Guild of Organists for their 2012 convention, The Cry of
Jeremiah is the first major work from the pen of Rosephanye Powell. With text from the Book of
Jeremiah, the four movements follow the prophet’s feelings of abandonment and redemption by
God. Powell combines this ancient text with music that draws simultaneously from the African
American musical heritage, as well as the classical music traditions.

ABOUT MAESTRA D’WALLA SIMMONS-BURKE
Maestra D’Walla Simmons-Burke has held teaching positions in Georgia, South Carolina
and presently at Winston-Salem State University (North Carolina) where she is the Director
of Choral and Vocal Studies for the Department of Music.

Simmons-Burke is the founder of four of the five choral ensembles currently existing within
the Music Department at Winston-Salem State University (Winston-Salem State University
Singin’ Divas; Schola Cantorum; Complesso Voce’ and the renowned Burke Singers). The
Winston-Salem State University Choir (aka Singing Rams) is one of the first student
organizations founded at the university. The WSSU Choir has performed with the Gateways
Symphony Orchestra; Winston-Salem Symphony Orchestra, D’Vorak Symphony Orchestra,
Colour of Music Festival Symphony Orchestra and the New England Symphony Orchestra
and is well sought after for its performances of master choral works (i.e…Haydn’s Creation;
Handel’s Messiah; Fauré’s Requiem; Rossini’s Stabat Mater; Orff’s Carmina Burana;
Mozart’s Requiem; and Berlioz’s Te Deum), spirituals and world music. Maestra
Simmons-Burke has conducted Gabriel Fauré’s Requiem with the New England Symphony
and Symphony Chorale at Carnegie Hall. Simmons-Burke has also performed
internationally with her choral ensembles and as a guest conductor/lecturer in Prague,
Czech Republic; Nassau, Bahamas; Accra, Cape Coast & Kumasi, Ghana – West Africa;
and Pilanesberg, Cape Town and Johannesburg – South Africa. Maestra Simmons-Burke
has conducted The 105 Voices of History Concert Choir as a National Conductor at The
John F. Kennedy Performing Arts Center and in Nassau, Bahamas. She is a recipient of the
105 Voices of History Kennedy Center Performing Arts Award.

Under Simmons-Burke’s baton, her choral ensembles have performed for and/or with such
regional and national and international dignitaries as President George W. Bush; Kweisi
Mfume; Susan Taylor; former North Carolina Governor James Hunt; Maya Angelou; Dick
Gregory; Patti Austin; Harry Belafonté; Madame President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia
and Pope John Paul II, to name a few. Her exceptional and diverse vocal and choral
pedagogies are continuously demonstrated through the outstanding students she has
produced. As a result, Simmons-Burke has been the recipient of several teaching awards
such as the Winston-Salem State University Patterson Outstanding Teacher of the Year
Award, Winston-Salem State University Cedric Rodney Service Award and The John F.
Kennedy Center for The Performing Arts 105 Voices of History National Conductor’s Award.
Formally, the Recording Academy, in partnership with the GRAMMY Foundation nominated
Simmons-Burke for the Grammy’s Music Educator of the Year Award.

Sunday, April 9, 2023 at 2:00 PM
Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage at Carnegie Hall
? Caldwell, Stephen—Pre-Existing Condition: Stephen Caldwell, conductor
? Powell, Rosephanye—The Cry of Jeremiah: D’Walla Simmons-Burke, conductor
? Homestead and Shorewood High School Chamber Orchestra – Karen Frink and John
Emanuelson, Directors

MidAmerica Productions’ continues its 40th season with the New York premiere of
composer/conductor Stephen Caldwell’s choral work Pre-Existing Condition and D’Walla
Simmons-Burke conducting Rosephanye Powell’s The Cry of Jeremiah with the New England
Symphonic Ensemble and distinguished soloists. Experienced and esteemed American
choruses hail from Minnesota, Wisconsin, Arkansas, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Texas.
Homestead and Shorewood Chamber Orchestra complete the afternoon program under the
shared baton of Directors Karen Frink and John Emanuelson.

TICKETS:
Tickets go on sale to the general public Monday, January 9, 2023 at 9:00 AM via Carnegie
Hall.

For single tickets call CarnegieCharge at 212-247-7800 or visit carnegiehall.org
For group sales of 10 or more, contact groupsales@carnegiehall.org or call 212-903-9705

Carnegie Hall Box Office is located at 57th Street and Seventh Avenue, New York City, NY