Marvin Lowe & Friends: A Soulful Celebration

 Maria's Music Review: "Marvin Lowe & Friends: The Voices of A Soulful Celebration"

Marvin Lowe, a veteran of New York City Opera,  invites classical singers to share their talents in his annual concert.

Marvin Lowe, Bass Baritone

Mae Carrington, Soprano

Maria Freeman, Soprano

Lucia Bradford, Mezzo-Soprano

Nicole Mitchell, Contralto
Larry Hylton, Tenor

Samuel McKelton, Tenor

Clayton G. Williams, Bass

Melvin Greenwich, Cellist
Roy Jennings, Piano
Rasaan Bourke, Music Director

On Sunday, March 5, at 4pm, African-American classical singers came together to celebrate The Negro Spiritual, The Oratorio, and to Salute Broadway, in Marvin Lowe's annual concert "A Soulful Celebration" at St Philip's Episcopal Church, in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn. It was on a dreamy mid-Winter's afternoon, where the joy of music was bestowed on listening ears,  touching hearts and changing lives. The choir, which included the entire cast of singers, led the concert with Let Heavenly Music Fill this Place by Gordon Young, No Harm Have I Done You-an African-American Heritage Hymn, and Total Praise by Richard Smallwood conducted by Maestro Rasaan Bourke, Music Director. The program was broken up into 3 parts; negro spirituals, a dedication to deceased loved ones, and a salute to Broadway, with an intermission followed by a reception. Negro spirituals arranged by Moses Hogan, Roy Jennings, H.T. Burleigh, and Roland Carter amongst others, were performed in traditional manner invoking great black artists from the past.  Marvin Lowe's Steal Away and Po' Mo'ners Got a Home at Las' echoed memories of Paul Robeson as his honeyed baritone filled the sanctuary, while Nicole Mitchell's  I Don't Feel No Ways Tired and Calvary incited memories of Marian Anderson with her dulcet contralto. Lucia Bradford sang Moses Hogan's Deep River with her flawless mezzo, and later graced the congregation with Pie Jesu from Maurice Durufle's Requiem in part 2. Mae Carrington rendered Give Me Jesus, Great is thy Faithfulness, and a selection from the Wiz with her sweet silvery soprano, spellbinding listeners. Sam McKelton's tenor  in Ingemisco from Jose Nunez-Garcia's Requiem gave exiting vocal overtones in part 2, while Larry Hilton's  Something's Coming from West Side Story resounded through the sanctuary like a trumpet during the Broadway segment. Other selections in the program included songs from Ragtime, Showboat, and Faure's Requiem. Melvin Greenwich, accomplished cellist from Harlem and co-founder of Ensemble Sepia, played a beautiful a capella rendition of Swing Low (Sweet Chariot)  arranged by Lawrence Brown while Roy Jennings, accompanying many of the singers, played his own solo arrangement of Lift Every Voice and Sing at the piano.  At the Prelude and at the Postlude, Maestro Rasaan Bourke played an  Improvisation on a Theme and an Improvisation on a Medley of Spirituals at the Guilbault-Thérien organ, with great energy, beauty, and perfection. The concert ended with a magnificent standing ovation, Glorifying God.


A Soulful Celebration is a Marvin Lowe Enterprise. For bookings contact Marvin Lowe at 212-694-2763. A bass–baritone with a rich voice, Philadelphia native Marvin Lowe has toured extensively throughout the United States, Canada, South America, Europe, Australia and New Zealand. He has sung with New York City Opera, Washington Opera, Los Angeles Opera, Opera Ebony, Virginia Opera and Trilogy Opera Company. His operatic credits include roles in the New York City Opera’s productions of Puccini’s La Fanciulla del West, Carlisle Floyd’s Of Mice and Men, Jake Heggie’s Dead Man Walking and Scott Joplin’s Treemonisha. He has sung in Opera Ebony’s productions of Dorothy Rudd-Moore’s Frederick Douglas, Sojourner Truth, and Harriet, A Woman Called Moses and the New Federal Theater’s production of Opera of Marie Laveaux. With Trilogy Opera Company he has sung in Trevor Weston’s (4), Dorothy Rudd-Moore’s Harriet, A Woman Called Moses, and Thea Musgrave’s Frederick Douglas.

~  Reviewed by Maria Antoinette Freeman