Ursuline Choir Learns From The Best In Special Gospel Performance

NEW ROCHELLE, NY — In a special performance celebrating Black History Month, the Ursuline School's elite Honor Choir paid tribute to a uniquely American form of artistic musical composition.

Students at the Ursuline School in New Rochelle had the chance to experience a hands-on lesson for Black History Month when they performed Gospel spirituals at the school as part of a special program. The school's honor choir performed Gospel spirituals under the direction of La Fredrick Coaxner, the choir director at Harlem's famed Abyssinian Baptist Church.

Coaxner had worked with the students for several weeks teaching them well-known and more obscure spirituals, including "Lift Every Voice and Sing," "Steal Away" and "Ain't Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me Around."

The girls' own choir director, Wendy Bryn Harmer, a soprano with the Metropolitan Opera, added a special touch with her ethereal vocals. Students also had the opportunity to perform with Damon Mack on keyboard, singer Carl Arnez Ellis III and soloist Ahmaya Knoelle Higginson.

Coaxner explained the origins of songs, which he called "freedom songs" or "code songs." The spirituals, which slaves used to communicate with one another when they were preparing to run away, are as historically significant as they are enchanting.

“I was a little nervous at first of how receptive they would be, but we were having rehearsal one day and all of a sudden an energy came into the room and it was as if we were in a Baptist church service,” Coaxner told CBS News New York City affiliate WCBS following the performance.

"There definitely was an energy. I think it’s been really fun,” Ursuline Honor Choir Member Madeline Donovan quickly agreed.

The performance was the finale to a special presentation by Justice Tanya R. Kennedy who was appointed this past July as an Associate Justice of the Appellate Court by then Gov. Andrew Cuomo. In her talk to students, "Young, Gifted and Black," she spoke about unsung black women in history.

The Black History performance was organized by Tamisha Chestnut, who was recently brought on as the schools’ director of diversity, equity, and inclusion.