Feb. 11: The American Spiritual Ensemble will perform at 8 p.m. in Phelps Stokes Auditorium.

American Spiritual Ensemble

The program is Part of the Stephenson Memorial Concert Series for 2010. Admission is free and open to the public.

Composed of some of the finest singers in the United States, the vocalists have thrilled audiences around the world with their dynamic renditions of classic spirituals and Broadway numbers.

The American Spiritual Ensemble was founded in 1995 by Everett McCorvey, professor of voice and director of opera at the University of Kentucky. Many of its members have performed in such venues as the Metropolitan Opera, New York City Opera, Houston Grand Opera, San Francisco Opera, Boston Opera and the Atlanta Civic Opera. They have also performed abroad in England, Germany, Italy, Japan, Scotland, and Spain. The mission of the American Spiritual Ensemble is to keep the American Negro spiritual alive. The Ensemble also starred in the 2006 PBS documentary “The Spirituals,” recounting the history of the art form. The ensemble also has recorded four CDs, most recently a recording of holiday spirituals titled “Spirit of the Holidays.”

Ensemble founder Everett McCorvey is a Montgomery, Ala. native who received his degrees from the University of Alabama, including a Doctorate of Musical Arts. As a tenor soloist, McCorvey has performed in opera and as a recitalist at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., the Metropolitan Opera and Radio City Music Hall in New York along with many other venues in the U.S. and abroad. In addition to the positions he holds at the University of Kentucky, McCorvey is on the artist faculty of the American Institute of Musical Study (AIMS) in Graz, Austria.