By Janet Platt
Trinity Times Correspondent

As the 2023 spring semester neared its end, the joyful sounds of music gave Trinity Washington University’s campus a momentary reprieve from the tension that comes with final exams, students gearing up to return home for the summer and graduating seniors preparing for commencement. 

The members of Trinity’s Gospel Choir hosted their end-of-semester performance in Main Hall’s O’Connor Auditorium May 1 to a small but enthusiastic audience. 

It was an event I stumbled into accidently, but it allowed me to suspend my own end-of-semester intellectual overload and absorb the tranquility of the beautiful melodies.

The end-of-semester Gospel Concert has been a Trinity tradition for many years, and though I was unaware it even existed before May 1, I’m so glad I found it.

I was on my way to a class that evening when Notre Dame Sister Ann Howard, Trinity’s director of campus ministry, stopped me and another student to let us know the concert was beginning soon.

My class happened to be one of my journalism courses, and when I told my professor about the concert, he told me he thought it would be a good opportunity to attend it and share my experience with the rest of the student body through the Trinity Times.

Before reaching the auditorium I could hear the harmonic voices echoing from the walls, building my excitement to witness the robust sounds inside the concert hall. 

To my great surprise the choir consisted of a group of 10 members, including the drummer and the pianist. 

I was astonished that such a rich sound was coming from only eight singers, because it filled the auditorium with the stunning resonance of a much larger choir.

Another surprising observation was the small size of the audience, and it made me sad that there are so many other students at Trinity who were not with me to witness this richness in melody and song, offering a wonderful respite and later providing a joyful fortitude to complete my semester studies.

One enthusiastic member of the audience was Trinity’s President Patricia McGuire, proudly decked out in one of the university’s colors, royal purple. 

I noticed McGuire’s beaming face, transfixed on the magnificent clarity of the voices of the soprano, alto and tenor sections, especially during the tune “Trust Me.” 

The song was rich with chords of harmonizing voices blending in with a thunderous sound of the piano and the drummer’s base drive. 

I scanned the room and noticed the people in the audience, like me, were transported to a place of peace, joy, and happiness. 

The next rendition of “Ride on King Jesus” was delivered with the force and appreciation for gospel you might experience in a Southern Baptist church yet felt organic in this university with Catholic roots and a predominantly Black and Latino student body.

After the concert ended, I caught up with Carmen Ealy, a tall slender African American woman and a 2011 Trinity alum who sang tenor in the choir.

“I love this,” Ealy said with a raspy voice, “meeting new students. I also travel with Eddie the pianist. When he calls, I go.” 

She has continued with Trinity’s gospel choir long after completing the university’s graduate program, maintaining her connection to the school and its new students. 

McGuire expressed her appreciation to the members of the choir after the concert and let them know how important their presence is to the university.”I love to hear the choir sing with a voice of pride and shear enjoyment,” she said. “It lifts us all and especially at time like this. Socially we have become disconnected post COVID. Music is the connector to the human senses.”