Fisk Jubile Singers Make their way to Washington


This Valentine’s Day, state history will be made in Tacoma. The iconic 139-year-old American vocal group Fisk Jubilee Singers will be performing for the first time in Washington with the Tacoma Philharmonic.

“I think it’s an event of huge importance,” said Andy Wood, executive director of Tacoma Philharmonic. “To celebrate Black History Month and to have the group that introduced slave songs to America perform a concert in Washington for the first time – it’s a historic event.”

The Fisk Jubilee Singers formed in the tumultuous years following the Civil War as a way to save their financially troubled school, Fisk Free Colored School for the education of freedmen.

Traveling the path of the Underground Railroad, collecting donations as they performed, the singers slowly began to gather enough funds to support their school – now Fisk University – and to complete the now historic landmark Jubilee Hall.


The singers simultaneously began to make an impact in the music world by introducing people across the country, and world, to the music of black America.

Jubilee Singers shared their soulful hymns, largely inspired by the slave songs, with the likes of Mark Twain, President Ulysses S. Grant and many congressmen and diplomats, before eventually touring throughout Western Europe.

“It’s incredible vocal artistry. Some of the top voices in America are a part of the Fisk Jubilee Singers,” Wood said. “They take us back to the founding of the group, and tell stories of the original members who came from the slave fields to form this group. They tell the stories and sing songs from that time. Not only is it historical, but musically it’s an engaging and wonderful experience.”

The performance begins at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 14.

Tickets are still available for this event and can be purchased online at http://www.tacomaphilharmonic.org or in person at the Pantages Theatre box office, open Monday through Friday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturday noon to 4 p.m.


0 responses to “Fisk Jubile Singers Make their way to Washington”

  1. Я бы не стал делать столь категоричные выводы. Ну что ж, здесь есть что обсудить. Интересно услышать другие мнения на эту тему.

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