January 13, 2025
Singers unite Jan. 24 at Penn State for ‘A Choral Tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’
Concert will feature performances by Elevation, Essence of Joy, Hatboro-Horsham High School Madrigals Choir, and Pittsburgh Creative and Performing Arts School Choir

Elevation, a professional vocal ensembles from Delaware, will perform at the annual “A Choral Tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.”
Credit: Moonloop PhotographyUNIVERSITY PARK (Monday, Jan. 6, 2025)—Pennsylvania artists will perform alongside Delaware state professional vocal ensemble Elevation to sing hymns and spirituals that celebrate the legacy of the civil-rights champion.
“A Choral Tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.” will be at 7 p.m. Friday, Jan. 24, in Eisenhower Auditorium.
The event is general admission. Tickets are $25 for an adult; $15 for those 18 and younger; and $10 for a University Park student and are available for purchase online. The Arts Ticket Center is the only authorized outlet for individual tickets for events presented by the Center for the Performing Arts.
Avoid the $4-per-ticket online service fee by calling 814-863-0255; or buying in person from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. weekdays at Eisenhower Auditorium.
Visit “A Choral Tribute” online for more information about the performance.
Modeled after a program first presented in 1990 by the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., “A Choral Tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.” will focus on vocal music from African and African-American musical idioms that emphasize King’s legacy. Performing ensembles include:
- Elevation, a professional singing ensemble from Delaware that fuses traditional choral music with hip-hop, jazz, R&B and spoken word.
- Essence of Joy, a chorus comprising Penn State undergrad and graduate students from various academic programs;
- Hatboro-Horsham High School Madrigals Choir, an ensemble composed of students living in the Philadelphia suburbs and dedicated to a long tradition of music education excellence; and
- Pittsburgh Creative and Performing Arts School Concert Choir, which features a group of students who study music of all genres in a conservatory-style setting.
The program will feature renditions of works by Moses Hogan, Raymond Wise, Roger Emerson and others; and a finale featuring all the choirs together singing “Anthem of Praise,” “Total Praise” and “Better.”
“I think about just the way that [Dr. Tony Leach] thinks, and we have very similar aesthetics to how a program is curated,” said Elevation Artistic Director Arreon Harley-Emerson in a recent interview. “And I do use that word with great intention, because it’s kind of like a museum. You have a curator who is kind of pulling these different things together so that we can tell this story that is called ‘The Dream Unfinished.’”
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Sponsored by
Foxdale Village
Accessibility services supported by
William E. McTurk Endowment for Program Support
A grant from the University Park Fee Board makes student prices possible.
FIND US
For more information about the season, visit the Center for the Performing Arts online, Facebook and Instagram.