Practice, Practice, Practice
June 15, 2017 6:54 AM Subscribe
Last night, the Dallas Street Choir made their Carnegie Hall debut. The choir is made up of Dallas residents who are homeless, including some with mental illness and addiction issues. They are currently on an East Coast tour. They were joined last night by 17 New Yorkers who currently live in Manhattan shelters. Last April, they produced the music video Homeless, Not Voiceless. Over 1,200 individuals have attended at least one of their weekly rehearsals, since October 2014.
Sorry this is a bit disjointed, I've got other pressing things to work on today, and wanted to share in a hurry.
I was at this performance last night! It was lovely, though a bit uneven. There were several children in the audience and both Palant (conductor/founder of Credo and The Dallas Street Choir, both groups took the stage) and soloist Frederica Von Stade were kind about the sounds children make, and genuinely happy to have everyone in the audience.
There was a slightly uncomfortable moment where Palant pointed out that clients of several homeless shelters had been bussed in to attend.
Stephen Schwartz (lyricist/composer/pianist, you might recognize him as the creator of the music and lyrics for WICKED, among other Broadway hits) provided a lovely introduction to his song Beautiful City and celebrated that the Dallas Street Choir has adopted the song.
Harolyn Blackwell sang three songs as well and she is amazing. Amazing.
The star of the evening might have been Toria Ellis, and I sadly can't find any videos of him singing online. His ovation was so long, and well deserved. He was a delight to hear. There was a small film crew in the back of the hall, so we may get to see footage someday.
The group goes to Washington DC next, and the 22 members of the Dallas Street Choir who are on the trip each wrote an essay talking about their experiences with homelessness (current or past) and what membership in the group means to/for them. Credo is a choir that is now in its fifth season and has done several tours internationally.
The Valley Lodge Choir joined both choirs at the end and did not sing anything alone, though one of its members was highlighted performing a song that he wrote, accompanied by the three choirs.
10/10 would listen again.
posted by bilabial at 9:55 AM on June 15, 2017 [5 favorites]
I was at this performance last night! It was lovely, though a bit uneven. There were several children in the audience and both Palant (conductor/founder of Credo and The Dallas Street Choir, both groups took the stage) and soloist Frederica Von Stade were kind about the sounds children make, and genuinely happy to have everyone in the audience.
There was a slightly uncomfortable moment where Palant pointed out that clients of several homeless shelters had been bussed in to attend.
Stephen Schwartz (lyricist/composer/pianist, you might recognize him as the creator of the music and lyrics for WICKED, among other Broadway hits) provided a lovely introduction to his song Beautiful City and celebrated that the Dallas Street Choir has adopted the song.
Harolyn Blackwell sang three songs as well and she is amazing. Amazing.
The star of the evening might have been Toria Ellis, and I sadly can't find any videos of him singing online. His ovation was so long, and well deserved. He was a delight to hear. There was a small film crew in the back of the hall, so we may get to see footage someday.
The group goes to Washington DC next, and the 22 members of the Dallas Street Choir who are on the trip each wrote an essay talking about their experiences with homelessness (current or past) and what membership in the group means to/for them. Credo is a choir that is now in its fifth season and has done several tours internationally.
The Valley Lodge Choir joined both choirs at the end and did not sing anything alone, though one of its members was highlighted performing a song that he wrote, accompanied by the three choirs.
10/10 would listen again.
posted by bilabial at 9:55 AM on June 15, 2017 [5 favorites]
I would love to support this group. Off to go find out how.
posted by WalkerWestridge at 11:14 AM on June 15, 2017
posted by WalkerWestridge at 11:14 AM on June 15, 2017
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