About Us
Our Choir
The Wendell P. Whalum Community Chorus is a wonderful group of experienced singers and musicians committed to carrying forth the spirit and tradition of Wendell P. Whalum.
Under the direction of Dr. David Morrow, the community chorus performs free concerts in the Greater Atlanta community throughout the year.
Our Director
David Morrow, D.M.A.
Academic Program Director
Professor and Director of the Morehouse Glee Club
Robinson Hall 128 (RCPAC)
Phone: (470)639-0211
Faculty Web Page: www.morehouse.edu/facstaff/dmorrow
David.Morrow@morehouse.edu
Dr. David Morrow joined the faculty in 1981 and teaches Conducting and Choral Literature as well as Survey of African American Music for the General Education curriculum. He is the Director of the Morehouse College Glee Club, the Wendell P. Whalum Community Chorus, is Artistic Director and Conductor of the Atlanta Singers, and co-Directs the Morehouse-Spleman Chorus. He also serves as Secretary of the Phi Beta Kappa and Pi Kappa Lambda honor societies. A sought after choral clinician, Dr. Morrow has lectured or conducted workshops in public schools, colleges, and universities.
Dr. David Morrow joined the faculty in 1981 and teaches Conducting and Choral Literature as well as Survey of African American Music for the General Education curriculum. He is the Director of the Morehouse College Glee Club, the Wendell P. Whalum Community Chorus, is Artistic Director and Conductor of the Atlanta Singers, and co-Directs the Morehouse-Spleman Chorus. He also serves as Secretary of the Phi Beta Kappa and Pi Kappa Lambda honor societies. A sought after choral clinician, Dr. Morrow has lectured or conducted workshops in public schools, colleges, and universities.
Dr. Morrow is a member of Metropolitan Atlanta Musicians Association, past president of the National Association of Negro Musicians, serves on the Board of Directors of the Intercollegiate Men's Choruses, Inc., and is a member of the American Choral Directors Association, Chorus America, the Georgia Music Educators Association, Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, is a "Friend of the Arts" member of Sigma Alpha Iota and in his second term on the Georgia Council for the Arts. His compositions and arrangements are published with Alfred Music Publishers and GIA music publishers.
Educational Background: Bachelor of Arts, Morehouse College, 1980; Master of Music, University of Michigan, 1981; Doctor of Musical Arts, University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, 1995
Areas of Expertise: Choral Music; Conducting; African American Music
Our Founder
The Atlanta University Center Community Chorus (AUCCC) was founded in 1966 to provide concert and commencement music for the Atlanta University Summer School. A notice from the late Dr. Wendell P. Whalum, the founding director of the Chorus, to a few experienced singers in the community brought an overwhelming response and they assembled each week for rehearsals.
During future summers, the group developed into one that included not only the graduates of the Atlanta University, but all the
undergraduate colleges in the Atlanta University Center as well as persons who had graduated from other institutions outside the Atlanta area. The initial number of twenty (20) singers has grown to as many as sixty (60), with an ongoing enrollment of fifty (50).
In 1971, Dr. Thomas J. Anderson, who edited and orchestrated Scott Joplin’s Treemonisha, invited the Chorus to take part in the world premier of this exciting opera. His invitation was accepted and immediate attention to this group resulted. Under the direction of Dr. Whalum, the Chorus was selected to sing during the Inauguration Ceremony of President Jimmy Carter in Washington, D.C.
President Hugh Gloster of Morehouse College granted space for rehearsals and encouraged the Chorus to continue. Robert Shaw, Atlanta’s famous conductor (Atlanta Symphony Orchestra) not only praised their efforts, but urged them to return one year later to Symphony Hall in the Atlanta Memorial Arts Center and take part in the concert presentation of Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess. This completed, he invited the Chorus to sing Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony along with his own Symphony Chorus for the inauguration of Mayor Maynard Jackson.
Morehouse College and the Metropolitan Atlanta Musicians Association (MAMA) presented Johannes Brahms’ A German Requiem featuring the AUCCC in a memorial for founder Dr. Wendell P. Whalum in March 1989. Many members of past association participated along with guest artists and orchestras.
Under the direction of Dr. David Morrow, a 1980 Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Morehouse College, who holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Cincinnati’s College Conservatory of Music, the Chorus has since participated in such events as the U.S. Freedom Tour Academic Convocation for Nelson Mandela (June 1990). The program included the singing of Nkosi Sikelel’i Afrika in the Xhosa dialect. In addition, the Chorus provided the music for the dedication of Atlanta’s new City Hall. They also appeared in the Cultural Olympiad of the 1996 Summer Olympic Games in Atlanta.
In June 2002, the Chorus participated in The Brazeal Dennard Choral Ensembles’ 30th Anniversary Concert, featuring ELIJAH by Felix Mendelssohn, in Detroit, Michigan. The Chorus also appeared in The Robert Nathaniel Dett 125th Birthday Celebration Choral Festival, University of Tennessee-Chattanooga, Tennessee (October 2007). (Mr. Dett was a most successful African American composer, pianist, choral director, educator, and a founding member of the National Association of Negro Musicians.) In July 2008, the Chorus performed in the Opening Day Program of the National Association of Negro Musicians’ 89th Annual Convention, Chattanooga, Tennessee