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Freedom Song: The Fisk Jubilee Singers' Story

Harvey Brough
Emily Dankworth
Christina Gill
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A choir of ex-slaves, raising funds to build their University, toured America from 1871, suffering discrimination and hardship. They came to England, were treated with respect and sang to Queen Victoria and Gladstone. Spiritual songs are folk music and belong to us all, but because they came out of such horrific suffering it’s hard to know how to sing them. 

This lecture tells the tale of the singers whose courage and enterprise brought them to the world. The songs they sang include Steal Away to Jesus, Go Down, Moses and Deep River.

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Part of:

Black History Month

This event was on Thu, 24 Oct 2019

Race
Music
Performance
History
Victorian
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Harvey Brough

Harvey is a Turner Sims Professor of Music at the University of Southampton. He is the founder of the group Harvey and the Wallbangers.

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Emily Dankworth

Having graduated with a MMus in Jazz Performance from the Guildhall School of Music & Drama in 2013, Emily is amongst the UK's distinct musical talents.

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Christina Gill

Christina has sung the role of Maddalena in the Opera Brava touring production of Rigoletto and made her Irish debut as Donna Agnes in The Sleeping Queen and Une Voix de Femme in Thérèse at the Wexford Festival Opera.

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Wills Morgan

Wills is a classically trained opera singer who performs with Harvey Brough's community choir Vox Holloway at St Luke’s Church, West Holloway, London.

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Michael Henry

Michael has sung Freedom Song with the community choir Vox Holloway based at St Luke's Church, West Holloway in London.

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