D'Walla Burke
An invitation to perform at Carnegie Hall on Jan. 18 marks another achievement in an exceptional year for the Winston-Salem State University Choir under the direction of D’ Walla Simmons Burke, director of choral and vocal studies.
In addition to being invited to perform at Carnegie Hall for the second time in two years, Burke and the Choir were also recently listed as a 2009 Grammy entry in five categories: Best Classical Album, Best Orchestra Performance, Best Choral Performance, Best Classical Vocal and Best Contemporary Composition.
A Grammy initial entry is a list of recordings that are submitted by record companies and individuals. The recordings are voted on by the Recording Academy’s voting members and the top five vote earners become nominees.
In November 2006, the WSSU Choir traveled to Prague, Czech Republic to record the CD with the Dvorak Symphony Orchestra at the invitation of Maestro Julius P. Williams. The CD was produced by the Albany Records Classical Music Label, which has also recorded trumpeter Wynton Marsalis; composer Adolphus Hailstork; Harvard Glee Club; and pianist/composer Robert Owens. To hear an audio excerpt of the CD, go to the choir’s webpage.
Williams is an award-winning conductor, composer, recording artist, educator, author and artistic director. A prolific composer, Williams has created dozens of works for virtually every genre of contemporary classical performance. His film score for Lifetime TV’s “Fighting for our Future” won the Gracie Allen Documentary Award in 2003. Williams included the composition by Joe Westmoreland (Somewhere Far Away) as a tribute to him and to his mentor Coleridge Taylor Perkinson, who orchestrated Westmoreland’s work.
On Jan. 18 at 7 p.m., Burke and select members of the WSSU Choir will perform a program honoring the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday. Burke’s debut performance at Carnegie Hall was April 20, 2008, when she directed Gabriel Faure’s Requiem to a near capacity audience. Select members of the University Choir accompanied Burke in 2008.
Burke called the 2008 opportunity a once-in-a-lifetime experience that could not have happened without the support of her students, administrators, faculty/staff at Winston-Salem State University and the community of Winston-Salem.
“When I walked onto the stage, Carnegie Hall looked like K. R. Williams Auditorium on the WSSU campus because I saw faculty, staff, administrators and many members of my church in the audience,” Burke recalled.
The WSSU choir has four CDs available: Somewhere Far Away; Lift Every Voice and Sing; I Wanna Be Ready; and In Silent Night. A new CD, Hold Fast To Dreams, will be released by March 1. A CD of the Music Voice Faculty, The Voices of Winston-Salem State University, is also available. For more information, please contact D’ Walla Simmons Burke at burkedw@wssu.edu or 336-750-2525.
