As part of the Rome community’s One Book, Many Voices reading initiative, Darlington will host the South Rome Redevelopment Corporation’s “Choral Celebration of Many Voices” Sunday, Sept. 30, at 4 p.m. in the Huffman Center.
“The purpose of the concert is to establish The Phyllis Wright-Davis Scholarship Fund for honor roll students at Anna K. Davie Elementary School,” said Karen Moore, executive director of the SRRC. “As long as these students stay on the honor roll, they’ll have full memberships to the new Boys & Girls Club. Our goal is to raise $30,000.”
The concert will feature 300 voices from area choirs, including Lovejoy Baptist Church Choir, Greater Bethlehem Temple Sanctuary Choir, Berry Concert Choir, Shorter Chorale, Darlington School Concert Choir and the Northwest Georgia Youth Community Choir. Each choir will present three pieces during the concert. For a finale, all the groups, with participation from the audience, will sing “God Bless America.”
“I have chosen a folk hymn arrangement of ‘Saints Bound for Heaven,’ a gospel song titled ‘Order My Steps in Your World,’ and a spiritual, ‘Sit Down Servant,’” said Dan Bishop, chairman of Darlington’s fine arts department. “I think that our participation is important for many reasons. First off, it is a marvelous opportunity to build a sense of community within South Rome and the entire city. Secondly, it will allow our students the opportunity to hear other choirs from our area colleges and churches.”
Admission is $10 per person. For more information or to purchase tickets, please call 706-236-2826. Partners for the One Book, Many Voices initiative include Berry College, Darlington School, Georgia Highlands College, Rome Area Council for the Arts, Rome-Floyd County Commission on Children and Youth, Rome News-Tribune, Sara Hightower Regional Library, Shorter College and 100 Black Men of Rome and Northwest Georgia.
One Book, Many Voices seeks to foster literacy, encourage dialogue and build community in Rome and Floyd County. The book selected to inaugurate this annual event is Dr. Maya Angelou’s “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings.” The project will culminate with a lecture by Angelou, an internationally respected poet, writer and educator, at The Forum at 7 p.m. on Sept. 27. For more information on this and other One Book, Many Voices events, please visit
www.romelibrary.org/onebook.htm.
