LIFT EVERY VOICE_PROGRAM_BHM

2025/26

presents

2025/26

Lift Every Voice and Sing Celebrating African American Contributions To Opera & Classical Music

Fan Yang Soprano

Madeline Olivera Johnnie Felder Kendrick Williams Mezzo

Tenor

Baritone

OPERA CAROLINA RESIDENT COMPANY

Elliott Brown Inayah Raheem

Opera Carolina Chorus

Royal Voices of Charlotte

South Carolina State University Choir

Tenor

Mezzo

FEBRUARY 28, 2026 • 8 PM THE CAROLINA THEATRE

Lift Every Voice A Concert of Legacy, Reflection, and Future Vision Opera Carolina

Welcome

Welcome to Lift Every Voice, a celebration of African American artistry in classical music—honoring the roots that ground us, the voices that shaped us, and the future rising before us. This evening, we trace a lineage of sound, story, and spirit: from spirituals and early pioneers to contemporary composers and today’s leading artists. Together, we listen, remember, and lift our voices toward what comes next.

Program

This program is curated as a continuous journey—from foundation to future—inviting listeners to experience legacy, reflection, and renewal without interruption.

PROLOGUE – The Call An opening invocation that gathers the room into shared purpose.

Opening Poem Lift Every Voice by G. Hummingbird – George Washington III All Ensembles Lift Every Voice and Sing – J. Rosamond Johnson (arr. Roland Carter)

*** I. ROOT – The Foundation The musical and spiritual bedrock from which American voices rise.

Madeline Beitel Olivera, Mezzo-Soprano Prayer – Leslie Adams Opera Carolina Chorus I, Too, Sing America – Undine Smith Moore (Langston Hughes) Kendrick Williams, Baritone, South Carolina State University Chorus & Yaneisha Tedder, Flutist Lord, How Come Me Here – Evelyn Simpson-Cureton

South Carolina State University Chorus Precious Lord – Roland Carter

*** II. REFLECTIONS – Remembering Ourselves Personal memory and collective identity—voices shaped by experience and hope.

Kendrick Williams, Baritone A Dream Wasted (from Highway 1, U.S.A.) – William Grant Still Johnnie Felder, Tenor If I Can Help Somebody – Nathan Carter South Carolina State University Chorus Examine Me – Cedric Dent Way Over in Beulah Land – Stacy V. Gibbs Madeline Beitel Olivera, Mezzo-Soprano My God Is So High – Hall Johnson

*** III. RESONANCE – Hidden Voices, Living Legacies Pioneers whose music shaped America’s classical voice—heard, reclaimed, and renewed.

Kimberly Butler, Sopran, CC Cooper, Mezzo-Soprano & Opera Carolina Chorus A Real Slow Drag (from Treemonisha) – Scott Joplin Music of Life – B. E. Boykin Fan Yang, Soprano, Inayah Raheem, Mezzo-Soprano Scandalize My Name – Traditional Spiritual Inayah Raheem, Mezzo-Soprano Night – Florence Price Elliott Brown, Tenor Till I Wake – H.T. Burleigh

IV. RISE – Unity and New Visions Community as catalyst—new voices carrying the song forward.

Elliott Brown, Tenor Hold Fast to Dreams – Florence Price Johnnie Felder, Tenor Come By Here – Damien Sneed Queen’s University – Royal Voices Bitter Laurel (Selections) – Margaret Bonds

*** V. EPILOGUE – Legacy and Light The past illuminated in the present—voices that continue to guide the future.

Skyler Green, Tenor Quanto è bella from The Elixir of Love – Gaetano Donizetti Fan Yang & Friends He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands – Traditional Spiritual

***

ARTISTS & ENSEMBLES Featured Soloists: Fan Yang • Inayah Raheem • Madeline Beitel Olivera Elliott Brown • Johnnie Felder • Skyler Green • Kendrick Williams Pianists: Emily Jarrell Urbanek • John Richardson Opera Carolina Chorus – Director: Emily Jarrell Urbanek South Carolina State University Chorus – Director: Dr. Johnnie Felder Queen’s University – Royal Voices – Director: Dr. Justin Smith ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Opera Carolina thanks our artists, collaborators, educators, and community partners for their commitment to excellence, equity, and artistic legacy.

We are grateful to our donors and sponsors whose generosity makes this celebration possible.

Please support

Opera Carolina

Thank You!

General Director Shanté Williams Artistic Director & Deputy General Director Claudio Ferri Music Director & Principal Conductor Stefano Vignati

w www.operacarolina.org The Elizabeth Roddey Dowd Opera Center 1600 Elizabeth Avenue, Char lotte, NC 28204.