For Jeremy Kelsey of the Fisk Jubilee Singers, performing at Emens Auditorium Friday night was the highlight of a tradition that will soon be over for him.
"I'm kind of sad because this is all I know," said Kelsey, a bass singer who will be graduating this spring with a bachelor's in business administration from Fisk University in Tennessee. "This is all I've been doing since I stepped onto Fisk's campus."
Organized in 1871, today's world-renown Fisk Jubilee Singers have performed in several places from the international music festival in Italy to the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C. and New York's Carnegie Hall. The group's original nine singers first introduced themselves to the world with a combination of folk music, slave songs and spirituals celebrating life and triumph.
Continuing that tradition, 15 Fisk Jubilee Singers entertained Friday's audience with 19 spirituals, including "Go Down Moses," "The Gospel Train" and "Amen." In the first part of the show, 11 singers also performed "A Portrait Comes to Life," where they stood in various poses and acted like members of the original group, providing a brief background on the singers.
The original nine student singers -- all former slaves or children of slaves -- went on tour in 1871 to raise money to save Fisk University from bankruptcy and closure. After completing several tours in the United States and Europe, they eventually raised $150,000, which purchased Fisk's campus.
"It is these Jubilee Singers who sacrificed in some cases their lives and their education to save Fisk University from being closed," said director Paul T. Kwami, who graduated from the university in 1985. "Through their travels, they introduced the music you hear tonight."
Kelsey, the longest-serving member of the group, said he knew he wanted to join the singers after seeing a video of their performance in junior high school. He was surprised he made it through the rigorous audition process his freshman year, he said.
"I was so overwhelmed that I couldn't even do anything -- I couldn't laugh; I couldn't cry," Kelsey said. "I was just stuck."
Performing on stage more than three years later still excites him, he said. The singer said he was especially pleased with Friday's performance.
"I think tonight was one of our better performances of the year," Kelsey said. "The crowd was energetic and so were we because a lot of the time we feed off the crowd ... I think it was good chemistry between us."
Singing in the group has taught Fisk University sophomore Miracle Jones, second soprano singer and chemistry major, the importance of dedication, motivation and excellence, she said.
Jones hopes future members of the group will appreciate the culture behind the music and understand the struggles their ancestors went through to give them a better future, she said.
"I hope the future group continues to live the legacy of the Fisk Jubilee Singers," Jones said.
Ball State University senior Sky Woodfin, music education major, looks forward to seeing how the Fisk Jubilee Singers affect people in the future, he said.
"It's not every day you get to hear something that authentic, especially that historical," Woodfin said. "For them to come out to Muncie, being who they are, it shows that black people can do a lot more than what they see on TV."
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