The Morehouse College Glee Club Quartet


The Morehouse College Quartet has been in existence even longer than the Morehouse College Glee Club. Campus oral tradition has it that from 1870 forward, there were notable quartet competitions on campus. These frequently included mandolins from the Mandolin Club and Quartet and the Atlanta Baptist (Morehouse) College Quartet with mandolins.

Legend has it that competitions between quartets of classes also made for exciting performances on campus. The Morehouse College Quartet is the survival to this day of quartet emphasis at the College.
This group of four was the first official singing organization at Morehouse College, and can boast of a number of memorable performances in its history. These include command performances for the late Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1932 in Warm Springs, Georgia, and a performance prior to the 1930s at the White House.

In 1989, the Morehouse College Quartet performed on several occasions: a special luncheon sponsored by the 3M Corporation and the Morehouse Alumni Association's Minnesota Chapter, at which [former] Morehouse President Leroy Keith spoke; the Men's Day Concert at the St. Paul A.M.E. Church in Hamilton, Bermuda; and the Fifth Annual Conference on the Music of the Black Composer at the Smithsonian Institution, which honored Dr. Wendell P. Whalum, Sr. and Hall Johnson and featured the Quartet. During the 1993-94 academic year, the Quartet took part in a celebration of the music of African-American composers at Carnegie Hall in New York City. They also performed at the Smithsonian Institution in honor of Dr. King's birthday on a program with Dr. Neil Rudenstein, president of Harvard University, as keynote speaker.

In the Spring of 2001, the Quartet sang for President George Bush and First Lady Barbara Bush at the Morehouse School of Medicine. In the Fall of that same year, they performed for Ray Charles at a special reception honoring him at Davidson House on the Morehouse College campus. Earlier that day, during Morehouse's Opening Convocation, Ray Charles received an Honorary Doctor of Musical Arts degree and donated $1 million to Morehouse College for the second time in 2001.

The Quartet has also performed for National Public Radio's "A King Celebration." They also performed in 1997 at the Chicago Club reception hosted by Oprah Winfrey and Sara Lee Corporation Chairman and CEO John H. Bryan, where Ms. Winfrey donated $1 million for scholarships to Morehouse College (see Jet Magazine, December 8, 1997, p. 22).

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