The Fisk Jubilee Singers, a group of African American singers was established in 1871 at Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee. It is one of the earliest and most famous black vocal groups, known for the performance of slave spirituals. Originally known as the Fisk Free Colored School, Fisk University was established in 1865 to educate former slaves with the support from donations of former abolitionists. By 1871, however, Fisk was severely in debt. To save the school, George L. White, Fisk treasurer and music professor then, formed a nine- music choral ensemble of young men and women fresh from slavery and took it on tour to earn money to save their fledgling school. The band performed their first concerts in small towns. They took the churches
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One way was by singing spirituals. After the Civil War, spirituals helped keep the spirits high and the Jubilee Singers took on the additional role of being powerful advocates towards civil rights. The Fisk Jubilee Singers gave performances of black music, and this music did not follow the prevalent minstrel stereotypes. The American Missionary Association did not approve the Fisk Jubilee Singers tours in their rhetoric until the musical group received critical recognition and they realized that the performances of the group were quite different from the popular minstrel shows that the American Missionary Association opposed. They switched from operatic arias to religious songs like “ There is a Balm in Gilead.” There was a reluctance to perform spirituals following emancipation because they were seen as a degrading reminder of slave life. Their story can indicate the selling of blackness cultivated to the preferences of white consumers. They were working against stereotypes and a racist society, so they found a more engaging sound and still maintained the ideal passion of slave music to resonate with the white audiences. In order for African American culture to seem more “ respectable” the Fisk Jubilee Singers had to do everything they could to appeal to their white
One way was by singing spirituals. After the Civil War, spirituals helped keep the spirits high and the Jubilee Singers took on the additional role of being powerful advocates towards civil rights. The Fisk Jubilee Singers gave performances of black music, and this music did not follow the prevalent minstrel stereotypes. The American Missionary Association did not approve the Fisk Jubilee Singers tours in their rhetoric until the musical group received critical recognition and they realized that the performances of the group were quite different from the popular minstrel shows that the American Missionary Association opposed. They switched from operatic arias to religious songs like “ There is a Balm in Gilead.” There was a reluctance to perform spirituals following emancipation because they were seen as a degrading reminder of slave life. Their story can indicate the selling of blackness cultivated to the preferences of white consumers. They were working against stereotypes and a racist society, so they found a more engaging sound and still maintained the ideal passion of slave music to resonate with the white audiences. In order for African American culture to seem more “ respectable” the Fisk Jubilee Singers had to do everything they could to appeal to their white