NATS and the Concert Spiritual
The National Association of Teachers of Singing, Inc. (NATS) now presents two vocal competitions that focus on the concert spiritual for solo voice as part of the NATS National Conference. Numerous recordings of the spirituals represented in the official repertoire for the competitions are referenced and searchable through The Spirituals Database.
NATS Hall Johnson Spirituals Competition
The NATS Hall Johnson Spirituals Competition, which is currently scheduled to be offered biennially from 2016-2036, is intended to “restore authenticity to the performance of the classically-arranged Spiritual, one of America’s unique contributions to world culture” and to “promote the truth that Spirituals, like Art Songs, can be successfully performed by all people, not only by the African Americans who created them, and require only the same study that one devotes to any art song or aria.”
Twenty-one spiritual settings by composer Hall Johnson were selected for the competition’s repertoire list:
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City Called Heaven – HL Crucifixion – CF Ev’ry Time I Feel de Spirit – HL, GS Fix Me, Jesus – HL Give Me Jesus – CF His Name So Sweet – CF |
Honor! Honor! – CF I Been in de Storm So Long – HL I Got To Lie Down – CF I’m Gon’ter Tell God All o’ my Troubles – CF Le’s Have a Union – HL My God is So High – HL |
Oh, Glory! – CF Po’ Mo’ner Got a Home at Las’ – HL, GS Ride On, King Jesus!– CF, GS Roll Jerd’n, Roll – HL Take My Mother Home – CF Wade in de Water – HL Witness – CF |
The settings of the selected concert spirituals must be the one(s) designated in the Carl Fischer Hall Johnson Collection (CF), the Hal Leonard Digital Series, Hall Johnson Concert Spirituals (HL), or G. Schirmer – 30 Spirituals, composed by Hall Johnson (GS).
The Spirituals Database does not identify recordings of the specific scores referenced above. However, the links above are recordings of each Johnson spiritual listed in the database except those identified through the Unknown Composers Project.
NATS American Negro Spiritual Categories
The NATS American Negro Spiritual Categories include “spirituals approved for performance in NATS auditions are the classical arrangements of the North American Negro Spirituals and arranged by classical North American composers.” The competition is offered in odd-numbered years. The official repertoire for this competition covers composers from pioneers Harry T. Burleigh, Hall Johnson, Roland Hayes, and Florence B. Price to contemporary composers such as Roland Carter, Jacqueline B. Hairston, and Evelyn Simpson-Curenton.
Below are composers from the competition’s official list with a link to search (credited) recordings referenced in The Spirituals Database:
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Harris, Robert A. |
Please note: the search results above do not include tracks where the composer was identified through the Unknown Composers Project.