Press release from TVCC
From the patriotic themes of the Revolutionary War to the songs of the old West to the spirituals of the Civil War era, American folk music is a rich part of the country’s history.
During its first concert of the spring semester, the Trinity Valley Community College Music Department will be celebrating American folk music. The concert, titled “Our Musical Heritage, the Folk Music of America,” is scheduled for 3 p.m. March 3.
The concert will take place at Dogwood Church in Athens and there is no charge for admission.
The idea for the performance, said Choir Director Dr. Byron McGilvray, came when he was watching a documentary from renowned director Ken Burns.
“They play in those documentaries a lot of folk music,” said McGilvray. “In this one, they played the folk song ‘Johnny is Gone for a Soldier.’”
That song, which is mostly likely an American adaptation of an old Irish tune, has become an American folk piece, said McGilvray. That piece will be played during the concert and inspired McGilvray to begin creating a concert centered on the American folk genre.
The concert will feature a variety of American folk music, said McGilvray. The performance will include everything from marine shanties to spirituals to mountain songs.
“We have these tunes that we don’t know exactly where they come from, which is the definition of folk music, but they have been lovingly tuned and expressed for centuries,” said McGilvray. “This is the character of America.
“With our diverse society, our folk music takes on so many characters through everything from our cowboy songs, to shanties, mountain songs and spirituals. Folk music of America is so varied that it seemed to me a good expression of that heritage and that history to do a concert based around the genre.”
Students in the college’s Chamber Singers and Cardinal Singers will be participating. The performance will be directed by McGilvray and narrated by TVCC’s Fine Arts Director Kelly Driskell.
Dogwood Church is located at 6467 Farm-to-Market Road 2494 in Athens, which is three miles west of the college.
The event will be sponsored by the Lakeland Concert Association and the Cain Foundation.