On September 18th, Midday Music host Evan Miller interviewed Dr. Catherine Roma, director of World House Choir, and Janice Gairy, 2nd alto in the choir. The World House Choir is celebrating its 10th anniversary this week with three performances at the Foundry Theater in Yellow Springs, on September 21st, 22nd, and 23rd. Evan spoke with his guests about what the anniversary means for the members of the choir, and about what listeners can expect at this week’s concerts.
“It seems impossible to believe it’s been going 10 years,” Cathy Roma told Evan in the interview. Dr. Roma, professor of music at Wilmington College, founded World House Choir in 2012. (This week’s performances actually commemorate the 10th anniversary of the group’s christening, not its first meeting.) Since its inception, the choir has attracted a diverse group of vocalists dedicated to choral music and social justice. To date, they have held over 140 concerts, including performances in six prisons. The choir will include more than 100 singers at their performances this week, the largest group since before the COVID pandemic. Roma talked about the choir’s continuing commitment to social change after a decade together:
“It feels like quite something. I’m full of gratitude that people want to come sing, and sing with meaning around justice issues, around loving issues. We want to put that out there because so many people’s rights are being taken, and challenged.”
Roma also spoke about choosing the repertoire for this week's performances at the Foundry Theater. To select the music for the program, Roma asked members of the choir to rank their favorite three songs ever performed by the group. The selections included several traditional spiritual songs, like “Sometimes I feel Like a Motherless Child,” as well as composer Paul Winter’s 1982 mass for the Earth, “Missa Gaia.” Roma spoke about how the meaning of “Missa Gaia” has changed since the choir originally performed the piece over half a decade ago, during the Obama presidency and before the COVID pandemic and George Floyd killing. “We’ve lot a lot of innocence, and we want to pay homage to that,” She told Evan, “Of course, it’s also about the environment. We’ve lost species, environmental integrity, water.”
In addition to selected favorites from their repertoire, The World House Choir will perform several pieces for the first time this week, including Bernice Johnson Reagon’s “Greed.” Soloist Phillip O’Rourke will perform Labi Siffre’s 1984 song, “(Something Inside) So Strong,” which Roma said has become an anthem for people around the world facing oppression and injustice. She explained the history of the piece,
“It’s by an Afro-English man, Labi Siffre. He was really affected by a documentary he saw about South Africa. We’re talking the mid-’80s—the declaration of emergency in South Africa was going on, with the Apartheid regime. He saw a documentary of a young boy being shot in the back by a white police officer, and he was taken by that. He’s a Black, gay man, and he also was feeling some troubles in relation to that. He wrote this piece, and it has become an anthem, a protest song, for justice issues.”
The World House Choir will perform three concerts at the Foundry Theater this week: Thursday, September 21, at 7:00pm, Friday, September 22, at 7:00pm, and Saturday, September 23, at 4:00pm. Thursday’s show is an open dress rehearsal, and will include a guest performance by rapper Black Sun. Friday and Saturday’s shows will feature singer Montez Mickens performing John Legend’s “If You’re Out There.” The shows will also feature several guest instrumentalists, including minister and gospel pianist Tod O’Neal.
All shows are free and open to the public, though donations are welcome. In effort to make the performances accessible to all, a sign language interpreter will be present at this week’s concerts. More information about the World House Choir can be found at worldhousechoir.org.
