Community Singing in Honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. with Every Voice Choirs
Every Voice Choirs does something a little different for Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Instead of a traditional concert where the audience sits and listens, they invite everyone to sing along. It's part performance, part community gathering, and it captures something essential about what music can do when people make it together.
I've been photographing this concert for years now, though this is only the second time at Adler Hall at the New York Society for Ethical Culture. Every Voice Choirs is one of my longest-running clients, and events like this are a big part of why.
The program moves through all of EVC's ensembles: the Kids choir, the Youth choir, the Concert Choir, and the Intergenerational Choir. Some songs feature just one group, others bring combinations together, and several invite the audience to join in. "Lift Every Voice and Sing" opened the afternoon with everyone singing together. "We Shall Overcome" closed it the same way.
In between, the program covered a lot of ground. The Youth choir performed "Sing About Martin" and joined the Concert Choir for "Malala's Dream." The Intergenerational Choir brought "Yonder Come Day," with Nicole Rosner leading. Chelsea Zeman's "Just Be Kind" featured the Hunter College students, and the Concert Choir closed their set with "Hope Lingers On" and "Ngothando."
Photographing a singalong is a different challenge than a straight concert. The energy in the room shifts when the audience participates, and I find myself watching the crowd as much as the stage. There's something worth capturing in both directions.
Adler Hall is a good room for this kind of event. The space is intimate enough that it still feels like a community gathering even with a full house, and the sight lines work well from multiple angles.
If you're a performing arts organization looking for a photographer who understands how to document events like this without getting in the way, I'd love to talk. You can see more of my work with Every Voice Choirs and other youth ensembles in my portfolio, or reach out directly to start a conversation.
