Reuniting in Sweet Harmony
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. - Spanning more than three decades, approximately 200 past and present members of Indiana State University's Ebony Majestic Choir gathered recently to fill Terre Haute's Hulman Center with the sweet sounds of gospel music.
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Past and present choir members perform a mix of traditional and contemporary gospel music
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Past musicians Paulette Spicer, Delwin Murphy, and current director Nathaniel Truedell served as lead musicians for the concert. In addition to reconnecting with classmates and the University, the group performed gospel music dating back to its roots in the early 1970s.
Truedell, who has served as the choir's director for 18 years and has taught two generations in some families, said the group's legacy is that of a large extended family.
"We instill in them this is a family. They feel that camaraderie. They call me pop, they call me dad instead of Mr. Truedell," he said. "I've seen people that I haven't seen in years and they still call me dad. It's a good feeling."
Truedell said this first-ever reunion was definitely something special.
"It was absolutely awesome to see the young people performing along with alumni. To see that camaraderie and to see the young people listening to the older people it was just an awesome thing," Truedell said.
In 1972, a group of students living in Reeve Hall combined their ideas and their voices to form the Ebony Majestic Choir. Active both on campus and in the community, the group has performed with the Famed Fisk Jubilee Singers, and across the nation and beyond, including a performance in Caribbean Islands.
Truedell said the 70 current members of the Ebony Majestic Choir enjoyed performing alongside their predecessors.
"It was a big deal for them and they enjoyed it immensely," he said.
Truedell, who also teaches at Indianapolis Broad Ripple High School, was surprised at the response he received from choir alumni once word of a reunion got out.
"When the word went around Indianapolis, it was unbelievable. My phone rang day and night," Truedell said.
The experience as a member of the Ebony Majestic Choir family holds a special place in the heart of Eric Hence, a 1996 ISU alumnus living in Atlanta.
"It was the anchor for me here at Indiana State. It kept me grounded. It gave me somewhere where I felt I belonged," he recalled.
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Paulette Spicer, a former student conductor of ISU's Ebony Majestic Choir, reprises her role at the group's first-ever reunion in Hulman Center.
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That sense of belonging is due in large part to the mentoring he received from a fellow choir member.
"I met a guy by the name of Charles White, who was an associate director of Lincoln Quad. He was in the choir. He took me in as a mentor, showed me around and helped me get the things I needed taken care of while in college," Hence said.
Realizing the full impact of that experience Hence returned the favor by mentoring two other choir members. It became a life-long friendship, not only with his mentees but with many members of the choir.
"We're just a really tight-knit family and we continue to hold that bond even today," he said.
The choir has come a long way since Spicer, a 1980 alumna from Indianapolis, served as a student director of the choir.
"We were among our peers. You couldn't make people show up for rehearsal; you couldn't make them show up for engagements, you couldn't make them pay their money for whatever we were trying to do. But everyone did what they were supposed to," she recalled.
To Spicer, it was like "having brothers and sisters away from home." She welcomed news of the group's reunion.
"It's so wonderful to see these people that we haven't seen in 20-30 years. It feels like a family reunion," Spicer said.
In reflecting on her experience with the choir, Spicer said she learned two important lessons.
"You can work with anyone and love keeps you together," she said.
Orders are being taken for a commemorative CD set, which will include an audio recording of the concert and a collection of past and present photos of the group. The CD set is on sale for $25. To place an order, contact the Hulman Center Ticket office at (812) 237-3737.
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Contact: Contact: Julia Bruce, African American Cultural Center, 812.237.3811 or slfbruce@isugw.indstate.edu
Writer: Paula Meyer, ISU Communications & Marketing, 812.237.3783 or devmeyer@isugw.indstate.edu
ISU Communications and Marketing: (812) 237-3773 or http://www.indstate.edu/news
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