{"@context":"http://iiif.io/api/presentation/3/context.json","id":"https://marmia.aviaryplatform.com/iiif/222r49hj3z/manifest","type":"Manifest","label":{"en":["Morgan State University Choir 1, 1988-11"]},"logo":"https://d9jk7wjtjpu5g.cloudfront.net/organizations/logo_images/000/000/053/original/cropped-marmia-logo-copy1.png?1586173104","metadata":[{"label":{"en":["Source Metadata URI"]},"value":{"en":["https://marmia.libraryhost.com/repositories/2/archival_objects/11818"]}},{"label":{"en":["Date"]},"value":{"en":["1988-11 (Creation)"]}},{"label":{"en":["Description"]},"value":{"en":["Be advised that this video may contain sensitive, triggering, and offensive language and content. (Content warning)","Digitized with funding provided by the Council on Library and Information Resources' \"Digitizing Hidden Special Collections and Archives: Amplifying Unheard Voices\" grant program. (Funding note)","Dr. Nathan M. Carter, who led the Morgan State University Choir, is interviewed. (Scope and Content Note)"]}},{"label":{"en":["Format"]},"value":{"en":["1 U-matic"]}},{"label":{"en":["Identifier"]},"value":{"en":["WJZ-EVMAG-151-003 (Identifier)"]}},{"label":{"en":["Series Title"]},"value":{"en":["Evening Magazine"]}}],"summary":{"en":["Be advised that this video may contain sensitive, triggering, and offensive language and content.","Digitized with funding provided by the Council on Library and Information Resources' \"Digitizing Hidden Special Collections and Archives: Amplifying Unheard Voices\" grant program.","Dr. Nathan M. Carter, who led the Morgan State University Choir, is interviewed."]},"provider":[{"id":"https://marmia.aviaryplatform.com/aboutus","type":"Agent","label":{"en":["MARMIA"]},"homepage":[{"id":"https://marmia.aviaryplatform.com/","type":"Text","label":{"en":["MARMIA"]},"format":"text/html"}],"logo":[{"id":"https://d9jk7wjtjpu5g.cloudfront.net/organizations/logo_images/000/000/053/original/cropped-marmia-logo-copy1.png?1586173104","type":"Image"}]}],"thumbnail":[{"id":"https://d9jk7wjtjpu5g.cloudfront.net/collection_resource_files/thumbnails/000/216/773/small/thumbnail_216773_1700172671.jpg?1700154678","type":"Image","format":"image/jpeg"}],"items":[{"id":"https://marmia.aviaryplatform.com/collections/948/collection_resources/114035/file/216773","type":"Canvas","label":{"en":["Media File 1 of 1 - open-uri20250108-2687357-dx5grl.mp4"]},"duration":1173.515,"width":640,"height":360,"thumbnail":[{"id":"https://d9jk7wjtjpu5g.cloudfront.net/collection_resource_files/thumbnails/000/216/773/small/thumbnail_216773_1700172671.jpg?1700154678","type":"Image","format":"image/jpeg"}],"items":[{"id":"https://marmia.aviaryplatform.com/collections/948/collection_resources/114035/file/216773/content/1","type":"AnnotationPage","items":[{"id":"https://marmia.aviaryplatform.com/collections/948/collection_resources/114035/file/216773/content/1/annotation/1","type":"Annotation","motivation":"painting","body":{"id":"https://aviary-p-marmia.s3.wasabisys.com/collection_resource_files/resource_files/000/216/773/original/open-uri20250108-2687357-dx5grl.mp4?1736369721","type":"Video","format":"video/mp4","duration":1173.515,"width":640,"height":360},"target":"https://marmia.aviaryplatform.com/collections/948/collection_resources/114035/file/216773","metadata":[]}]}],"annotations":[{"id":"https://marmia.aviaryplatform.com/collections/948/collection_resources/114035/file/216773/transcript/61567","type":"AnnotationPage","label":{"en":["AUTO_TRINT_WJZ-EVMAG-151-003.mp4 [Transcript]"]},"items":[{"id":"https://marmia.aviaryplatform.com/collections/948/collection_resources/114035/file/216773/transcript/61567/annotation/1","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"So tell us about yourself and how you originally got involved with Morgan. With Morgan Squire is a story that goes back about 20 years. In 1970, when I really came to Morgan full time, I got involved with the Morgan State University Choir program as a byproduct of coming from Knoxville, Tennessee, to Baltimore, Maryland, to do my doctorate at the Peabody Conservatory. I've been working as head of the department at Knoxville College in Tennessee, running around with the choir all over the country, doing quite well there. But I had been at Juilliard prior to then and had gone as far as the Juilliard program allowed at that point a master's degree. And being in education, I ultimately wanted to do, you know, the doctorate. So somehow and I also sort of like these because those two things led me to come to Baltimore. A third thing, I have a brother here who is pastor of New Shallow Baptist Church, and it was nice to think that we would get together again. And I was at the Peabody no longer than I was there. Maybe half of a year that a call came from Morgan, knowing somewhat of a mile reputation of the choir director in town. And there was a need here part time. So it was like stretching my wings and coming here to help with the choir. And it just led to a permanent position. So when you got here, what kind of shape was the choir? Okay, the shape of the choir is better told by those who hear here, some of them around town. So they'll probably be watching. But really, the program called Music has always been at Morgan, but at that point it was at a lull. It's like the team was down and there were more people walking around the campus who could sing than those who were in the choir.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://marmia.aviaryplatform.com/collections/948/collection_resources/114035/file/216773#t=34.51,137.02"},{"id":"https://marmia.aviaryplatform.com/collections/948/collection_resources/114035/file/216773/transcript/61567/annotation/2","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"The choir was, I'm told, in the habit of doing maybe one or two concerts a year. Now, it had had peaks and valleys, you know, before then, but this is how I found it. I guess that was one of the reason I was called in. And I must say, it didn't take long before transformation began to take place. How would you describe the. Choir. Morgan State University Choir. Is the mention of Morgan in its attempt to be excellent. Okay. We have here concern for taking raw talent. Not always. Prepared before it gets here. That has been the mission of Morgan, and it is still looking for a high caliber student. And even currently now the the the S.A.T. S.A.T.S for all of our students, everything has been improving, but we still have a mission to reach those people who don't qualify to enter some of the institutions. And I find that in the music program to find talent and to make it exceed its normal expectation. And that talent has always been here. And I think the talent is here in every area. It depends upon those of us who attempt and to draw it out. And I take it my mission wherever there are people to get the best out of them. And I believe wherever there are numbers, there is quality also. And it's just, you know, the team leader. So musically, how would you describe them in terms of the repertoire? Okay, Now, the Morgan Choir, first of all, I mentioned that the Morgan Choir does not exist in a vacuum. It's a part of the university. It's also a part of the music department, which is a part of the fine arts program. So some of the students here are majoring in music, but the Morgan program really involves people throughout the universe to physics, math, you name it.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://marmia.aviaryplatform.com/collections/948/collection_resources/114035/file/216773#t=137.92,247.02"},{"id":"https://marmia.aviaryplatform.com/collections/948/collection_resources/114035/file/216773/transcript/61567/annotation/3","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"And it even includes students who may choose to come from the community who have been a part of our program. We have a diverse program, and then the same at the same time, we have a diverse musical program. There is no type of vocal music that we don't perform. If people hear us, see us in this particular segment, they may hear us and one aspect of our program. But if there was time to to discuss it in the course of a month or a year, we could be in Carnegie Hall, we could be at the White House, we could be at my church or your church, we could be at a school and doing music appropriate to that milieu. And we feel that we are capable of singing in any style. And it is represented not only in style but in the quality of performance. As in we don't feel we. Portend in any style. Obviously, that's a big requirement because you cannot maybe compete successfully with those who are specialized in that area. We are basically classically structured so in that sense, but we train our students so they can reach out into any dimension of musical life they may choose to see. Some of our students want to go to the Metropolitan Opera. Others want to go to Broadway. Others want to go and be church musicians. Others want to be their own musician. And so we have to make our program so versatile as to meet the needs of the individual students. And it means really being able to move back and forth. And that's my background. I mean, you know, I sort of don't have to fight that because I've had some touches in each of the areas I've mentioned. In fact, I've been immersed in most of them.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://marmia.aviaryplatform.com/collections/948/collection_resources/114035/file/216773#t=247.41,350.79"},{"id":"https://marmia.aviaryplatform.com/collections/948/collection_resources/114035/file/216773/transcript/61567/annotation/4","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"And to some degree, I started out as a church musician. My father was a minister in and planning for my mother. So the idea of hymns and spirituals within my background. But at the same time, I was being taught on the piano classically by a teacher in Selma, Alabama, who had come from Oberlin College. So I had a little taste of the popular, the gospel and everything. And my training has obviously been from the Peabody that I mentioned and the Juilliard that I mentioned, classically structured. But I feel comfortable to relate to any of these. Would you in a magazine, everything is categorized music, rock music, songs. So if you were going to put your choir into categories, how many of those categories would you put them into? Okay. You know, let me just say this. You know, you have to have a home base. We are a classical choir that branches out into the other areas that there is. But in other words, what I'm at, what am I saying? Classically speaking, we acquired that perform from the school for the most part, something written down. You see, many of the choirs like ourselves these days pretty much are doing from oral tradition. They hear a record, they perform it. The ability to be able to have it scored and sent to us to perform is something unique to the Morgan Choir, not to many of our other sister universities, particularly black college choirs, are as good about reproduce in front of the printed page. And that's the dimension being lost. And we, we we we don't have a problem selling it to our students because they see the value in it. They may not come here with it like they used to, but they want to be able to master the art of writing and reading because the great tradition is not lost with that.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://marmia.aviaryplatform.com/collections/948/collection_resources/114035/file/216773#t=351.06,462.03"},{"id":"https://marmia.aviaryplatform.com/collections/948/collection_resources/114035/file/216773/transcript/61567/annotation/5","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"It's enhanced by that. You know, the physics major, the people want music made. How did how are they able to adjust to that? You know, let me just say to you, because we have students who lead the way reading the others do it by, you know, is a such thing as having a musical ear. Certainly we and this this thing is being born with the voice to sing now to perfect that is necessary for the soloist, but for the choir member is we can kind of deal with that in a in an ensemble. How do they adjust to that? Some of them are even more adept at what I need than the ones of majoring in it. It's just a matter of choice. They they have the I mean, they have the talent, but they have not chosen to make it a vocation. The say, oh, what one thing would you say? Above all else, what makes the Morgan State special and unique? Okay, we. Okay. We are principally. Predominantly black university choir. Okay. This is not to say we do not reach out to all our music speaks to all people. But if you look at us, we're predominately black choir. Okay, But we have a mission to be able to sing the music of black composers who are classical, for example. Not too many. So we we. There's no black composer in this country that does not know of us, that does not send us their material to perform because they they're looking for an audience or an an organization that is capable of reproducing the printed page. So that's one thing. So in a sense, we have a reputation for being able to premiere major works of black composers. We laboratory for that, as evidenced by our recordings in Helsinki with the London Philharmonic Orchestra later, and as evidenced by the fact that the New York Philharmonic in the late seventies had a whole week devoted to reading and performing music of black composers.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://marmia.aviaryplatform.com/collections/948/collection_resources/114035/file/216773#t=462.27,572.23"},{"id":"https://marmia.aviaryplatform.com/collections/948/collection_resources/114035/file/216773/transcript/61567/annotation/6","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"And our choir was called there to do be the laboratory choir, as evidenced by the fact that when the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra premiered a great composer, George Walker's Mass, it was a morgan choir that did it. And so that's one thing. In addition to that, we're seeing the music of the Masters. I think to my left is about our cantata one night and one which we are preparing for this Christmas. We'll be doing the Christmas oratorio, too. That's part of somebody's calling for the choir later on, but that's it. Take, for example. So what makes us unique is the fact that we can move from Bach to wrap up to gospel in the same concert. Better than in Accra, I think. How would you compare yourself to the other choirs around the nation in that respect? People tell us unique, you know. You see. Let me give you an example. For example, we may do a gospel concert. We don't compete in the sense of just being a gospel choir. But take, for example, when you package gospel, normally you have five and six different artists on the show. Why? Because one night a one artist tends to get monotonous. That wouldn't happen to the Morgan Crab because we're not going to be always singing gospel. So we are moving from these different. That's the variety that's inherent in what we do. So we we are packaged as a one show. We're not appearing with too much. It's like the whole evening, the Morgan Choir and what, what, what an audience gets from us is, you know, like I said, some of this, some of that that's in our typical tour that really sets us apart. But does it ever clash with other people's values? I mean, obviously, if you're going from gospel to pop or to classical, those people who have I guess like they have a wrinkle in their feathers with you.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://marmia.aviaryplatform.com/collections/948/collection_resources/114035/file/216773#t=573.07,681.18"},{"id":"https://marmia.aviaryplatform.com/collections/948/collection_resources/114035/file/216773/transcript/61567/annotation/7","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Yes. Because. Oh, but that does not really bother us. We are comfortable with what we're doing. You know, you have to have a mission. I describe the mission of the Morgan Choir to be able to provide a laboratory, a vocal live for all of our students. The black experience is a varied one. I mean, I came up in a church where you had five different choirs. One was devoted to one style. We don't have five different choirs here, but the one choir represents all the different styles, so you may have to sit through one part of the program that may not appeal to you. Now, if you should come to a concert where we're doing a whole concert, like we will do a whole classical concert, there are people who come in and get upset about that. On the other hand, if I were to do it the other way, there would be some people if I get into if we get into trying to satisfy individual tastes, we may not even move out our own families, you know, because we all in our immediate family, they're five of us as children, and we have different tastes of music. So once you start doing that, you defeat your purpose. I'm committed. It really doesn't rub my feathers. In my younger days, it did. I mean, you know, because I know you want to get it pluses and minuses if you're doing something. Well, I've also primed my students. The more successful we are, there are more people who will have comments to make positive or negative, the more successful they are as soloists within our choir, they're going to hear it from somebody, even sometimes within the choir. You cannot let that stop you. The success feature always is concomitant with issues and answers is pluses and minuses.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://marmia.aviaryplatform.com/collections/948/collection_resources/114035/file/216773#t=681.6,772.17"},{"id":"https://marmia.aviaryplatform.com/collections/948/collection_resources/114035/file/216773/transcript/61567/annotation/8","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"The strong survive and you learn how to let it bounce off. I learned that also from my brother when you passed in the church. I come from a ministerial background. Can you imagine all the different problems a minister would have in terms of pleasing the people? And he he pointed out to me, you know, you have to have a mission and go for it. I'm comfortable in what I'm doing when I start trying to please people rather than do what I think is right. I run into problems year in and year out. How do you sustain the sound? How do you build this? Obviously, you're working with different. You have new people coming in. You have people listening. Okay, How do you sustain and heal? Okay, that's a good question because someone just come in and we just did a concert last Sunday night in Columbia, Maryland, for example. And it was a concert in October, the night that would be maybe at a level for some choirs at May night. You see, we never stop. It's a year round program and we're always looking for I mean, I plan that I'm very much enamored and very much influenced by great coaches, you know, like the Vince Lombardi or the Schuller's. I mean, I have an image kind of thing of relating to how if you are successful as a leader, you'll find a way to keep the band going. You don't let it crank down. You're always thinking ahead to see I'm working. We did yesterday. John Lennon has a lot of news now, but we were preparing a that's the album. That's a piece we do in acapella style on that we just performed this year, but we started working on it two years ago.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://marmia.aviaryplatform.com/collections/948/collection_resources/114035/file/216773#t=773.22,863.28"},{"id":"https://marmia.aviaryplatform.com/collections/948/collection_resources/114035/file/216773/transcript/61567/annotation/9","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"It's it's something that we didn't feel comfortable with until this year, and I'm preparing music now. The major focus now is going to be December the 13th, I believe, or whatever the second Sunday is when we do a major Yuletide concert. But I'm always thinking about next May when we get them out the first night. And I don't let things just you know, you don't you don't rest on your laurels. You're thinking ahead. You perform some of his music. We do it not a lot, but yesterday is yesterday. Da da da da da da da da. Okay. I don't know. Yesterday all my troubles seem so far away. That tune. Okay, we'll do it for you. But now again, you see, if we were to do that, by the way, you may walk into one of our rehearsals where you. I don't know which combination of voices will be there. See, we'd meet and we schedule problems, necessitate us having different sections so as to be able to fulfill our needs and the needs of other students schedule. But I believe we'll have a core there that could do that for you. How do you select your apartment? Okay. Anyone who comes to the choir interested in singing probably could get into the choir to pick out the choir, see what we have. It's like one big choir, out of which you develop your smaller groups. Now they must therefore be interested, dependable and capable of carrying a tune. That's the only requirement. There are some who will come who cannot match tones. We can't go for that. There's no hiding in the choir because it's clean. So some some singers who can sing and a typical church choir singing freestyle may sing off key and no one notices.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://marmia.aviaryplatform.com/collections/948/collection_resources/114035/file/216773#t=863.61,972.66"},{"id":"https://marmia.aviaryplatform.com/collections/948/collection_resources/114035/file/216773/transcript/61567/annotation/10","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"But when you speak from a classical tradition, that's the difference. When the Morgan choirs sing and you say we are, we're very much concerned about the proper court in the proper place, even if it's pop or gospel. So anyone who is not following that will be noticeable. And so that's a requirement. After that, I can pick quality for smaller groups in that large choir. 100 or more. Always. We may have a morgan Singers of 16, a concert choir of 40, and that is that they are working from their larger choir. So they're not all in the main ingredient, but they all are part of the choir. How many members are we likely to see performing at any given time? Okay. As I said before, the average would be a busload because we to a lot 40, 45, you know, when we do home concerts, you might see 80 to 100 when we do that. In other words, that the also everybody in our choir works. Not everybody a lot. It just depends on how much an effort it's necessary for us to have everybody. We try to peak two times a year with all the choir members at Christmas, December 2nd, and always the second one in December and at the Marriott the first Sunday in May. Between that, we really don't require all of them to be there. That's another thing people say, you know, you're singing all of them. By the way, our schedule is booked a year in advance. It's hard for us to fulfill a commitment at this time for this month. I mean, it's really that much of demand for the choir, and that's all over the country. Our schedule is already built up for next year and nowhere we go that people don't want us to return the next year.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://marmia.aviaryplatform.com/collections/948/collection_resources/114035/file/216773#t=973.09,1065.85"},{"id":"https://marmia.aviaryplatform.com/collections/948/collection_resources/114035/file/216773/transcript/61567/annotation/11","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"So we have to make space, you know, to be able to fulfill that. Now, these students are not just music majors only and not just vocal singers. So I'm not saying we've booked every day, but in terms of what they can handle, we overbooked. Okay, Better.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://marmia.aviaryplatform.com/collections/948/collection_resources/114035/file/216773#t=1066.27,1080.76"}]},{"id":"https://marmia.aviaryplatform.com/collections/948/collection_resources/114035/file/216773/transcript/61567","type":"AnnotationPage","label":{"en":["English [Transcript]"]},"items":[{"id":"https://marmia.aviaryplatform.com/collections/948/collection_resources/114035/file/216773/transcript/61567/annotation/12","type":"Annotation","motivation":"subtitling","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"https://d9jk7wjtjpu5g.cloudfront.net/file_transcripts/associated_files/000/061/567/original/open-uri20231117-60067-w6iaqm?1700180707","format":"text/vtt","language":"en"},"target":"https://d9jk7wjtjpu5g.cloudfront.net/file_transcripts/associated_files/000/061/567/original/open-uri20231117-60067-w6iaqm?1700180707"}]}]}]}