There is no denying the influence of black culture in America. While “the culture” is celebrated all year, February is a time to highlight its powerful impact on American history and the popular trends it has and continues to create.
From Willie Mae “Big Mama” Thornton to Prince, Black Americans have and continue to set the standard in the industry. Join the Cumberland Choral Arts and take a journey through Black History at the fifth annual Lift Every Voice and Sing concert on Saturday, Feb. 15th at Holy Trinity Episcopal Church located at 1601 Raeford Rd. at 7 p.m.
This year’s show theme is Love Songs and will highlight some of the best of old school R&B from the ‘70s, ‘80s and early ‘90s. The concert will also feature poetry, monologues, and spoken word.
LEVAS founder, Cumberland Choral Arts member and Board Member, Brenda Vandervort-Miller started this event in 2020 with a very particular concept in mind.
She explained “After attending a few Black History events when I moved here in 2008, I noticed there didn’t seem to be any mention of historical Black Americans whose contributions to our history included the arts or music. This was an idea that I’ve had for several years. But the real inspiration came from watching Beyoncé’s Homecoming on Netflix the summer of 2019. When she began to sing “Lift Every Voice and Sing” a lightbulb went off, and I began to jot down some thoughts. Before I knew it, I had a complete program to present to the CCA Board.
"They overwhelmingly supported the idea and here we are, 5 years later. [This year] We’ll be highlighting some of the R&B giants like Whitney Houston, Anita Baker, and Luther Vandross. There will be a few surprises as well that we’re very excited for.”
The Cumberland Choral Arts has been providing quality and culturally relevant concerts since 1991.
“Cumberland Choral Arts is a community symphonic choir, comprised of singers from within the Sandhills region. We typically perform 4 concerts a year, to include our holiday tradition of a joint production of Handel’s Messiah with Fayetteville Symphony Orchestra,” she said.
Tickets are $15 for adults and $5 for students and can be purchased at https://bit.ly/4hEMey9
The next big concert for CCA is a joint concert with Grey’s Creek High School Chorus Program on March 9 at Grey’s Creek High School, a can’t-miss event “covering” all the classics.
“Our next event will be our Covers concert, where we’re partnering with Gray's Creek High School. For this show we’ll be performing Pop, Rock, and R&B hits, including a few from Queen, and Earth Wind and Fire!” Vandervort-Miller said.
This concert will feature special guest The Guy Unger Band. Rolling into the summer, CCA will hold a special pre-Carngie Hall screening of Morten Laurisen’s Lux Aeterna at First Presbyterian Church (102 Ann Street) on May 17 at 7:30 p.m.
For more information about the Cumberland Choral Arts and upcoming events visit the website at https://www.cumberlandchoralarts.org/ and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/CumberlandChoralArts.

(Photo: Joy Vandervort-Cobb, a special guest, performs during Lift Every Voice and Sing in 2024. The concert has been a Fayetteville staple since 2020.)