Dr. Malcolm J. Merriweather (photo by Sekou Luke)
The Fredonia Choral Festival is slated for March 6 and 7, featuring a guest lecture and combined chorus concert.
GRAMMY-nominated conductor Malcolm J. Merriweather is the guest clinician for the festival. He is Director of the New York Philharmonic Chorus, Music Director of New York City’s The Dessoff Choirs and Orchestra, and holds the Tania León Endowed Chair in Music at Brooklyn College.
Events begin on Friday, March 6 at noon, with a lecture by Dr. Merriweather in Juliet J. Rosch Recital Hall.
On Saturday, March 7 at 4 p.m., the Choral Festival concert will be offered, featuring the Fredonia Camerata, Chamber Choir and College Choir, in Rosch Recital Hall. It is a ticketed event, with $8 general admission and free for students (but they must have a ticket).
With the Chamber Choir, Merriweather is conducting a Renaissance motet, “Inviolata Integra et Casta es Maria,” by 16th century composer Vicente Lusitano, who was a Portuguese priest and generally regarded as the first Western art composer of classical music. With the College Choir, Merriweather is conducting a portion of a work by Margaret Bonds, “Credo,” specifically the movement, “I Believe in the Prince of Peace,” with text by W.E.B. DuBois. Ms. Bonds is considered one of the leading but unrecognized African American female composers of the 20th century. With Camerata, Merriweather is conducting “Ave Maria” by Schubert.
The Camerata, directed by Dr. Brent Weber, and College and Chamber choirs, directed by Dr. Vernon Huff, will also perform additional works to round out the concert. At the end of the concert, Merriweather will conduct “You'll Never Walk Alone” from the musical “Carousel,” and “Climb Every Mountain,” also by Rogers and Hammerstein.
Tickets are available from the Fredonia Ticket Office in the Williams Center and online.
The festival is supported by the Carnahan Jackson Humanities Fund of the Fredonia College Foundation, the School of Music, and the student chapter of the American Choral Directors Association.
Director of Choral Activities Huff noted, “We’re very excited that Malcolm Merriweather is coming to headline our choral festival this year.
“Merriweather is one of the top young conductors of his generation. His work with the New York Philharmonic and other organizations is stellar. He is a GRAMMY nominee and in-demand all over the world as a clinician.”
Highlights of Mr. Merriweather’s 2025–2026 season include preparing the New York Philharmonic Chorus for world premieres by David Lang (“The Wealth of Nations”) and Ellen Reid (“Earth Between Oceans”), singing the baritone role in Mark Campbell and Peter Boyer’s “A Hundred Years On” with The Philadelphia Orchestra and The Crossing, and performing the title role in “Frederick” with Music Worcester. Equally at home with symphonic choral masterworks and contemporary repertoire, Merriweather has conducted Bach’s “St. John Passion,” Mendelssohn’s “Elijah,” and Handel’s “Messiah,” and is widely recognized for championing the music of Bonds through premiere recordings with AVIE Records.
Guest conducting appearances include the Choir of Trinity Wall Street, CHINEKE!, Novus Orchestra and the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra.
Merriweather holds degrees from Eastman, Manhattan School of Music, and Syracuse University, and was a Tanglewood fellow.
