I’age 8 The News Argus
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
wvvw.tlienewsargiis-com
Burke Singers still ‘outstanding’ after 15 years
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The Burke Singers of Winston-Salem
State celebrated 15 years of legacy
highlighted by a con
cert April 17 in the
Anderson Center.
The Burke Singers
gave an outstanding
performance, continu
ing in the tradition
that began in 1995.
Signature selections
such as "I Got Shoes"
and "No More
Auction Block" were
performed.
The group, formed by D'Walla
Simmons-Burke, reunited in celebra
tion as the singers of the past con
nected with the current group.
The original members were Sonya
Melton-Mickles, Temeka McCain,
Cassandra McCloud-Durant and
Calsine Pitt.
JAYE
COLE
REPORTER
The vision of the group was to add
variety, emotion and a sense of politi
cal awareness to the choral program.
The Burke Singers musical selections
range from Negro spirituals to origi
nal songs written and arranged by
members of the group.
Although times have changed and
society has evolved, the ensemble has
continued to remain relevant with
their message through song.
Rolyndria Anderson, a sophomore
music education major from Lanham,
Md. attributes their success to the vari
ety of talent that each member brings
to the group.
"It's kind of inevitable because with
the people that come through, our
sounds change," Anderson said.
"We might learn a song from Sweet
Honey in the Rock [an African
American female a cappella ensemble],
but we make our own arrangements
by putting in our own melodies, our
own embellishments."
Aside from fine tuning their vocal
skills, the women also spent time
enjoying the moment and reminiscing
on their college years.
Idra Green, a Greenville native, is a
WSSU alum and sang with the group
from 2003-2006.
She recalls fond memories of not
only performing with her "sisters" but
bonding with her peers as well.
"Building a sisterhood with the
girls...not only did we practice in
class, we get together outside of class
to get to know each other and better
understand each other, building a
strong bridge," Green said.
For many, the reunion is bigger than
reuniting with old friends.
It represents a benchmark in African-
American music.
Not only have the Burke Singers set
the standard in music excellence, they
are also viewed as torch bearers of
Civil Rights history in this area.
Michael Cain, a WSSU retiree who
worked in administration, has been a
long time fan of the vocal ensemble.
"You can't help but feel differently
when you hear them sing, especially
the songs they're singing, especially a
song like 'A Change Is Gonna Come ; I
heard them sing that recently. I think
it's one of those things that is needed,"
Cain said.
Melton-Mickles, one of the original
four, said she is happy about the
legacy that has lived on since the
group's inception. "I think it's great
that they're still singing these songs
and learning about history at the same
time," Mickles said.
Gay-Straight Student Alliance sponsors concert
to recognize gay musicians, bring awareness to WSSU
Jarrett Dawkins
Reporter
The sound of music was in the air because of
the concert performance of "Queer
Compositions" at Winston-Salem State to cele
brate all gay musicians. April 21.
The Gay-Straight Student Alliance arranged a
concert to recognize gay musicians in the
music industry and to bring awareness to
WSSU students and the community that gay
people have made a mark in the music busi
ness and are proud of their achievements
worldwide.
WSSU adjunct professors Ronnal Ford and
LaTika Douthit of the Fine Arts Department in
collaboration with the Gay-Straight Student
Alliance conceived the idea for the concert.
There are more than 100 G.S.S.A. members
attending WSSU.
"We hope to increase awareness of the
incredible contributions homosexual and bisex
ual composers have made to the cultural devel
opment of this country," said Howard
McQuirter a senior majoring in psychology.
"We also have many talented LGBT [Lesbian
Gay Bisexual Transgender] musicians in the
area and this concert is one way to support
them and their craft while acknowledging the
contributions LGBT musicians made during
the twentieth century," and McQuirter, from
Fayetteville, is vice president of G.S.S.A.
"We are also pleased to have the participation
of performers from the UNC School of the Arts,
UNC Greensboro, and NC A&T.'
McQuirter said that members from gay and
lesbian organizations attended the concert.
The artists who performed were Thomas
Swenson, pianist; Ronnal Ford clarinetist and
oboist; LaTika Douthit, flutist; Dennis Malloy,
violist; DareJI Hunt, V6caIist;'RasTiod Wells,
dancer; and Ray Ebert, pianist.
There were no heterosexual performers at
the concert.
"Hopefully in the future we will have both
hetero and homosexual musicians performing,
but for our first we concert we wanted it to just
be homosexuals," Ford said.
"This event is meant to celebrate the music
and musicianship of gay and lesbian com
posers and musicians," McQuirter said.
Therefore, all of the performed works will be
composed, arranged, and performed by gay
and lesbian musicians."
McQuirter said that donations aren't being
accepted for the concert, but donations can be
made to the G.S.S.A. to assist with future pro
gramming such as this.
Both Ford and McQuirter said they believe
there will be more concerts showing honor to
gay musicians.
"Concerts such as this will definitely appear
in the future from us, even if they are not
annual. Hopefully this concert will be very
well accepted and supported by the commu
nity, thus giving the organization and perform
ers more opportunities to put on future events
such as this," McQuirter said.
Coming in fall 2010
new biology course
for nonscience majors
Ebony Pullen
CONTRIBUTOR
Fall 2010 an alternative biol
ogy course for nonscience
majors will be offered by the
Life Science Department.
The new course, BIO 1340,
will fulfill the general biology
requirement for undergradu
ate students and discuss the
relationship between basic bio
logical principles of human
health and disease.
This will be done by apply
ing the scientific method to the
diagnosis and treatment of dis
eases such as cancer and obe
sity.
"When students are more
interested in topics they tend
to do better," Dr. Daniel
Williams said.
The purpose of the course is
to provide an alternative for
students who failed BIO 1301.
Drs. David Kump and
Williams, assistant professors
of biology, helped establish the
new course.
"We are not lowering stan
dards but giving students top
ics they're more interested in,"
Kump said.
Kump said he believes the
* reason that grades were poor
in BIO 1301 is associated with
students' low attendance.
If a student failed BIO 1301,
the new course will not replace
the failing grade on the stu
dent's transcript.
Also this course does not ful
fill prerequisite requirements
for BIO 2311 or BIO 1331.
"Healthcare professions
should not register for BIO
1340," Dr. Williams said.
"This is considered a general
interest course and not a pre
requisite course."
Dr. Donna Pierre, chair of
life science, said "The
Department of Life Sciences is
excited about offering addi
tional general education biol
ogy courses.
"It is our hope that students
will be interested in the
Human Biology and Disease
course. We believe that interest
leads to success."