American Spiritual Ensemble

The mission of the American Spiritual Ensemble is to preserve and continue the tradition of storytelling through the performance and preservation of the American negro spiritual. Performing these spirituals serves as a tribute to the many lives lost or destroyed during slavery in the United States; a horrible time for human kind. These songs, a combination of African, American, and European traditions, create a new type of melody in which a sense of identification was created within the enslaved community. These songs now stand as a testament of the strength found through faith during times of hardship as well as a unifying force among all peoples. These songs are beloved all around the world.

The American Spiritual Ensemble commits to aiding in the preservation of these beautiful melodies through performances worldwide as well as through education in the form of: lectures, master classes and vocal instruction for educational, religious, and community institutions worldwide.

Dr. Everett McCorvey, tenor, is the founder and director of the American Spiritual Ensemble. A native of Montgomery, Alabama, he received his degrees from the University of Alabama, including a Doctorate in Musical Arts. Vocal Excellence is a hallmark of Dr. McCorvey’s work. As a teacher, he has given master classes and vocal workshops throughout the United States, Europe, South America, China, Japan, and Poland. Dr. McCorvey is the founder and Music Director of the American Spiritual Ensemble. McCorvey recently produced a CD Anchored in the Lord featuring singers from the Bay View Music Festival’s American Negro Spirituals Intensive Program, where McCorvey serves as Director.

His career has spanned all areas of the performing arts industry, from performing to musical directing, vocal teaching, producing, impresario, conducting, union representing, administrative work, and mentoring.

Dr. McCorvey is of the belief that every citizen in the country should find ways to give back to his or her community, city, or country. He has been very active in his volunteer activities working to keep the arts as a part of the civic conversation and currently serves on many local, regional, and national boards. He holds an Endowed Chair in Opera Studies/Director of Opera and Professor of Voice at the University of Kentucky in Lexington, Kentucky.

Dr. McCorvey is also entering his seventh season as the Artistic Director of the National Chorale of New York City. Celebrating over 50 years of great choral singing, the National Chorale is a symphonic choir which performs at Lincoln Center in New York City. The National Chorale is well-known in New York and around the region for its performances of the great choral titans as well as for the popular New York Messiah Sing-In at Lincoln Center! The Sing-In is one of the oldest sing-in’s in the country.

Works to include Traditional American Negro Spirituals arranged by Moses Hogan, Roland Carter, Jacqueline Hairston, and more.