SC State Concert Choir receives invitation to sing at New York’s Carnegie Hall in 2026
The choir plans several concert performances to raise funds to make the performance a reality.
ORANGEBURG, S.C. – South Carolina State University’s Concert Choir has received an invitation to perform at Carnegie Hall in New York City in June 2026.
Under the leadership of Dr. Johnnie J. Felder, assistant professor of music and director of choral activities, the 40-member ensemble has been invited to the historic concert hall to perform Adolphus Hailstork’s sacred cantata, “I Will Lift Up Mine Eyes.”
SC State’s choral students will have the opportunity to rehearse and perform the work with 2001 SC State music education graduate Dr. Damon H. Dandridge, an internationally recognized arranger and conductor. Dandridge serves as assistant professor of music at the American University of Sharjan, United Arab Emirates.
In the 135-year history of Carnegie Hall, this will be the first time an SC State graduate will stand at the helm of an ensemble in Carnegie Hall’s prestigious 2,804-seat Stern Auditorium and the first time the SC State Concert Choir will grace a stage of this magnitude. It is one of the world’s most prestigious venues for both classical music and popular music.
The Concert Choir has grown significantly under Felder’s leadership since his arrival at SC State in 2022, and the Carnegie performance is a milestone in the choir’s development.
The Carnegie invitation comes from Mid-America Productions, an organization dedicated to hosting acclaimed ensembles, singers, and conductors from the U.S. and abroad.
The SC State Concert Choir will be joined by other ensembles from across the U.S. in performing Hailstork’s work, which fuses the traditional European classical choral style of singing with poignant influences of gospel, blues, and the Negro Spiritual.
Hailstork, an eminent African American composer and educator, is a native of Rochester, New York, and formerly served on the music faculties of several American universities including Michigan State, Norfolk State, and Old Dominion University. His compositions include African American art song, chamber and solo instrumental, choral and orchestral music, and opera.
The Concert Choir will host several concert performances to raise funds to make the Carnegie Hall performance a reality, in addition to sponsorships, donations, and university and alumni support.
“We are beyond excited and proud to receive this prestigious invitation and will put forth every effort to make this a reality and an experience that our students will never forget,” said Dr. M. Evelyn Fields, dean of the College of Education, Humanities and Social Sciences.
SC State Concert Choir and music program alumni who sung under Dr. Arthur L. Evans, Dr. Richard Beckford, and Dr. Johnnie J. Felder are invited to accompany the SC State Concert Choir as they travel June 11-15, 2026, to New York.
SC State’s music programs are part of the university’s Department of Visual and Performing Arts, a unit of the College of Education, Humanities and Social Sciences.
For more information about SC State’s music programs, visit www.scsu.edu/music. For more about supporting the Concert Choir, contact Felder at jfelder5@scsu.edu.