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CONTENTSThe PlayMeet the Playwright/DirectorHistory of SpiritualsVocal Arrangements in JubileeJubilee Singers vs MinstrelsyFisk UniversityFisk Jubilee SingersThree Big QuestionsResourcesSTUDY GUIDEARENA’S PAGEJUBILEETHE PLAYIn 1866, six months after the end ofthe Civil War and two years afterthe Emancipation Proclamation,Fisk University was establishedto educate newly freed enslavedpeople. By 1871, however, FiskUniversity was severely in debt andin danger of closing.That year George L. White, theschool’s treasurer and a musicprofessor, and Ella Sheppard, anAfrican-American, self-taught singer,pianist and composer, established achoral ensemble of students in thehopes of raising money. The nine-‐member group of African-Americanartists —The Fisk Jubilee Singers—embarked on a national tour to savetheir beloved university. Singingthe songs of their ancestors, theJubilees toured the nation, andthen the world, challenging andshattering racial barriers.In this world premiere a cappellamusical, the characters, comradery,relationships, spirit and sorrows ofthe Jubilee Singers are exploredthrough an arrangement of over 40spirituals and the true stories of thesingers themselves.a cappella - singing that is notaccompanied by an instrumentWRITTEN AND DIRECTED BY TAZEWELL THOMPSONVOCAL ARRANGEMENT AND MUSIC DIRECTION BY DIANNE ADAMS MCDOWELLKREEGER THEATER APRIL 26 — JUNE 2, 2019“There’s a meeting here tonight!”

MEET THEPLAYWRIGHTHISTORY OFSPIRITUALSSpirituals are the religiousfolk songs created and firstsung by enslaved AfricanAmericans. “Swing Low, SweetChariot;” “Joshua Fit the Battleof Jericho” and “Wade in theWater” are some of the bestknown spirituals. Many Americans from all ethnic backgrounds can remember“growing up” with these songs. Spirituals are regarded as the first signaturemusic of America. They are the roots of rock, the blues, rap and R&B.TAZEWELL THOMPSON“ I’d never heard those songsbefore and that’s my culture! And theywere beautiful I wanted to learnmore about where they [spirituals]came from and why they were sung. Iwanted to create a history for myself.”Tazewell Thompson is an internationaltheater and opera director and anaward-winning playwright. Jubileeis Thompson’s 20th Arena Stageproduction. His play Constant Star hashad 16 productions in major nationaltheaters and his play Mary T & LizzyK, commissioned by and produced atArena Stage, was the recipient of theEdgerton Foundation New AmericanPlay Award.Growing up in the Roman CatholicChurch, Tazewell Thompson grew upsinging Gregorian chants and Irish folksongs. His first experience hearing thespiritual songs of his ancestors waswhen he was in high school and hisgrandmother took him to her Baptistchurch. He was blown away by thepowerful voices, melody, rhythm andspirit of the church. Eager to hear andlearn more music from his culture,Thompson continued going to hisgrandmother’s church.He later learned about the FiskJubilee Singers from a PBS specialand started researching the group.Over years, Thompson amassed alibrary of spirituals, but was unsurewhat shape the story should take. Withthe premiere of Jubilee, Thompsoninvites audiences to learn about theintimate and dynamic lives of the FiskJubilee singers through their music.Spirituals are bound to the ongoing struggle for freedom by women andmen in the enslaved African-American community. After newly capturedAfricans were loaded like cattle into the holds of slave ships, enduringthe Middle Passage (the voyage from the west coast of Africa to theAmericas), singing was one of the few protest tools they had. Duringslavery, the songs may have been used as codes to help slaves escapevia the Underground Railroad. They were also important during the CivilRights Movement as many of the spirituals were sung at protests whereAfrican Americans demanded racial equality.According to the article “African American Spirituals” from the Library ofCongress, “The spiritual form has its roots in informal gatherings of slavesin ‘praise houses’ and outdoor meetings. At the meetings, participantswould sing, chant and dance Spirituals also come from the ‘ring shout,’a shuffling circular dance to chanting and clapping that was commonamong enslaved people on plantations.”In terms of structure, “spirituals are traditionally sung in a call andresponse form, with a leader improvising a line of text and a chorusproviding a refrain in unison. Many spirituals, known as ‘sorrow songs,’ areslow and sad. Other spirituals are more joyful; ‘jubilees,’ or ‘camp meetingsongs,’ are fast and rhythmic.”According to scholar Sandra Jean Graham, when these private songsbegan being publicly performed in concert halls, musicians started totranscribe and formally arrange the music. Some arrangers, like GeorgeWhite of Fisk University, imposed standard English and precise parts.Others, like Thomas Fenner of Hampton Institute, retained the original feelof the spirituals, keeping dialect, vocal slides, space for improvisation andusing up to seven vocal parts.READThe Souls of BlackFolk Chapter XIV (14)The Sorrow Songsby W.E.B. DuBoishttps://bit.ly/2K5PCqEThe term “spiritual” comesfrom the King James Bibletranslation of Ephesians5:19: “Speaking toyourselves in psalms andhymns and spiritual songs,singing and making melodyin your heart to the Lord.”

VOCAL ARRANGEMENTS IN JUBILEEThe music in Jubilee is sung a cappella. This means there is no instrumentaccompanying the singers. Dianne Adams McDowell is the music director andvocal arranger for Jubilee.She says that in an a cappella piece the voices are everything. “They are theband, the voices and the actors. When you are working with a cappella music,the voice must be the foundation for the house not only the shutters.”JUBILEE SINGERS VS MINSTRELSYThe Jubilee Singers provided a positive and empowering portrayal of AfricanAmerican culture at a time when a popular form entertainment in America wasminstrelsy, which mocked and demeaned African-American life.Minstrel shows portrayed black people as dumb, lazy, buffoonish and delightedto work for white people. The iconic makeup of the minstrel clown was blackface(burnt cork or coal) with white circles around the eyes and mouth. They wouldperform in blackface and dance “jigs” that mocked African dance. White performerswould also sing “coon songs” with lyrics about how black people missed the cottonfields and slavery. At first only white performers would participate in minstrel shows,but the form was so popular that African Americans would wear blackface andperform in minstrel shows as well. Most white audiences had never experienced anauthentic portrayal of African-American life or artistry.As the Jubilee Singers toured the U.S. they had to challenge and break theminstrel portrayals with each song and performance. White audiences wereoften shocked that the singers were black people. Some would even comeup and touch their faces to check for blackface makeup. Although the JubileeSingers were harassed and met with racism, they continued to tour, proudlypresenting true African-American artistry.FISK UNIVERSITYOriginally known as the “Fisk Free ColoredSchool,” Fisk University was established in 1865.It was named in honor of General Clinton B. Fisk,who provided the site in former Union Army barracks. It was sponsoredby the American Missionary Association.Classes began January 9, 1866 and the first students ranged in agefrom 7 to 70. Tuition was 12 per year. Many students there studied to beteachers or ministers. Before Emancipation, slaves could be beaten orkilled for learning to read or write. Now education was available, and, in thatopportunity, newly freed people saw the hope of greater freedom. After itopened, students dug up chains and shackles, discovering Fisk was alsothe former site of a slave auction. They sold these tools of oppression forscrap metal and bought books and other instruments of learning.Fisk was the first of the southern HBCUs to gain accreditation in 1930,and has had several significant alumni, including W.E.B. Du Bois, D.C.Mayor Marion Barry, poet Nikki Giovanni, U.S. Representative John Lewisand journalist Ida B. Wells.HBCU – Historically Black Colleges and UniversitiesLEADERS OF THEJUBILEE SINGERSGEORGE L. WHITEGeorge Leonard Whitewas born in New York,where his family andfriends were involvedwith the UndergroundRailroad. After being wounded in theCivil War, White became a bandmasterfor his regiment. After the war,White was hired at Fisk Universityas treasurer and he also joined thefaculty as a music teacher. White’smusical ability and his creative natureinspired him to form the Fisk JubileeSingers.ELLA SHEPPARDElla Sheppard wasthe matriarch of theFisk Jubilee Singers.She received 12 pianolessons from a whiteteacher in secret andthen taught herself how to composemusic. Sheppard also taught herselfhow to read and write. After herfather’s death from cholera, shesupported herself, her stepmotherand her half-sister by teaching at aschool for formerly enslaved people,before coming to Fisk University.George White appointed her theaccompanist and assistant choraldirector. She accompanied the choir,oversaw many of their rehearsals,conducted the Jubilees from herposition among the singers onstage, and collected and transcribedspirituals until the troupe’s repertoirenumbered over a hundred. Becauseshe was a black woman she couldnot be the official face of the JubileeSingers. However, in Jubilee, theactress that plays Ella also playsGeorge White; symbolizing howintegral her contribution was to thesuccess of the Jubilee Singers.See page 5 for original and additionalJubilee Singer bios