William Verity, PHS Select Vocal Ensemble headline MLK Celebration Jan. 15

Jan. 11—PLATTSBURGH — Plattsburgh High School music director William Verity will direct the Select Vocal Ensemble for the last time at the Martin Luther King Celebration, 1:30 p.m. on Monday, Jan. 15, at the Blessed John XXIII Newman Center, 90 Broad St., in Plattsburgh.

In June, Verity retires after 32 years as an educator, and the annual event was a longstanding appearance date for the ensemble.

The Martin Luther King Jr. Committee welcomes attendees to this annual celebration, whose theme for 2024 is, "Why we can't wait: activating our power for equity in justice."

The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. promoted nonviolence to seek equality for all people. This free program will highlight the importance of making positive change without using violence.

ACCESS THROUGH MUSIC

"I've been asked to speak about the music, and how it connects and celebrates the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King," Verity said.

"I've been asked to perform music with my Select Vocal Ensemble and to connect the songs that we're performing again speak to the civil rights movement and to Dr. Martin Luther King specifically. In my mind, the title of what I am doing is exploring Dr. Martin Luther King and the civil rights movement through music.

"There are so many connections to the music that we routinely perform that I want my students to be aware of the historical context and the connections again to the civil rights movement. and I think it's important for them to take these songs that they really love performing and to know the true meaning and the impact on society that they've had."

The ensemble will perform four songs, including "A City Called Heaven."

"That song was made famous by Mahalia Jackson, who was personal friend and confidante of Dr. Martin Luther King, and she would routinely perform at his speeches and rallies," Verity said.

"So knowing that there's a direct connection between one of the songs that we're performing in A City Called Heaven, and the person who wrote it and her deep personal relationship with Dr Martin Luther King that makes it very special to us knowing that there's that bond and connection."

A WOMAN CALLED MOSES

Another celebration selection is "Stand Up," which was featured in the movie "Harriet," about the Underground Railroad conductor, abolitionist and self-emancipator Harriet Ross Tubman, born enslaved in Dorchester County on the Eastern Shore of Maryland.

"There's lines in that are straight from Harriet Tubman, including her final words, allegedly," Verity said.

"Her final words before she passed away were 'I go to prepare a place for you.' That is featured in the song, so when we talk about the civil rights movement and we talk about the move in the Underground Railroad, Harriet Tubman being a crucial figure in history, those words resonate with my students letting them know that those were supposedly her final words before she passed, and that is featured prominently in the song."

Verity, 54, grew up on Long Island, and appreciates all of the contributions of figures like Dr. King to the civil rights movement by looking at period footage and reading history.

"I was not around for the civil rights movement in the '50s," he said.

"However, the music always resonates with me. The passion that is found in spirituals and gospel music resonates with me. You can't hide the passion. You can't hide the calling in the music, and that's the part that is so impactful I think to me and especially to my students."

DEEP DIVE

Another celebration selection is "The Storm is Passing Over" written by Charles Albert Tindley and first published in his collection, "Soul Echoes," in 1905.

"We're going to close with that one," Verity said.

"He wrote a song called 'I'll Overcome Some Day,' which was the inspiration for 'We Shall Overcome.' I didn't know that either. It's kind of like I'm learning so much in doing this because the songs themselves are great, but now I want to look back and see why these songs are so great? What's going on in these songs that makes them so passionate? and they resonate with young people, and they resonate with me as well.

"So what is happening in this music that is so powerful? It's a song of optimism. Again, it applies to so many things in our society today that are not necessarily even for the civil rights movement. It definitely relates to that, but I think everybody can kind of see the optimism in the song."

LONG ASK

The Select Vocal Ensemble was established in 2002 at PHS, and its appearances range from the very formal to very informal at venues local to the Belle Center in Buffalo.

"That group has performed very formally on the state level for New York State Winter Conference where it is very prestigious and very tough to be selected to perform there for a bunch of music teachers/educators in the audience," Verity said.

"We did that in Rochester in 2018. We've also performed with the rock group Foreigner. We performed with them in Vermont. In 2014, we were selected to perform their song, 'I Want to Know What Love Is.' We were singing backup for Foreigner."

The Martin Luther King Day Celebration is one of the ensemble's longest standing performance dates.

"We have been very kindly asked to perform at that every single year," Verity said.

"Aside from the COVID years, we were there for every one of them. We've been very honored to be asked to be part of that celebration."

Email: rcaudell@pressrepublican.com

Twitter@RobinCaudell