BU Music Students Sing at Carnegie Hall

Students from Bluefield University’s Variations Chorale sang in New York City’s Carnegie Hall this summer.

Variations members invited to sing included Abbie Bradley, Elei Haynes, Amelia Garrett, Amaya Brooks, Bree Patton, Sydney Horton, Laura Horton, and Ana Barros.

According to the Gateway Chamber Orchestra’s official website, MidAmerica Productions hired BU alumnus Dr. Tim Sharp in January of 2022 to be Principal Conductor and Executive Director. Dr. Sharp invited former BU music professor Bryant Moxley to perform on Carnegie Hall’s stage on behalf of MidAmerica Productions, said a BU press release.

“Mr. Moxley was adamant that it was a Bluefield University story, and he talked about how it never would have happened without his Bluefield connections,” said Alandra Brannon, a BU alumna who participated as director of the Mercer Christian Academy High School Choir.

Moxley, who is now the minister of music and worship at Wake Forest Baptist Church in Wake Forest, NC, chose to include his own church choir; three local high school choirs from Roanoke, VA, Ridgeway, VA, and Princeton, WV; and BU’s Masterworks Chorale and Variations Chorale, both led by Dr. Mark Milberger, BU assistant professor of music and director of Worship Arts. A professional orchestra of 25 people accompanied Moxley’s combined choir of 150 singers.

“It was sincerely beautiful,” Haynes said.

Garrett agreed, describing the experience of being on the stage of Carnegie Hall as “surreal.”

“It was an honor standing in the same spot that many world-class musicians have stood, but many have also dreamed of standing in,” Garrett said.

The concert included well-known American hymns such as “There is a Fountain” and “Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing,” according to a BU press release.

“Seeing the vastness of the hall, the resounding acoustics, and the warm gold lighting, knowing that we’re going to fill the room with hymnody, was an awe-filled moment,” Brannon said.

The BU Music Department not only opened doors of opportunity for both alumni and students alike, but also contributed to the national scene of choral music.