Hezekiah Walker Center for Gospel Music at Virginia Union University <\/a>in Richmond hosted the event, led both EMU and VUU choirs as vocalist for the song \u201cI Need You to Survive.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\nWalker said on Thursday he was still fielding phone calls from people who were disappointed to miss the show. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt was a major success,\u201d he said. \u201cPeople are still talking about it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For Jacob Nissley<\/strong>, a Chamber Singers tenor studying music education, watching Walker sing brought back memories. He was reminded of his time in Canton, Ohio, singing gospel hymns at the Baptist church down the street from his home church.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\u201cThat guy can sing,\u201d Nissley said about Walker. \u201cHe can belt out all the notes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Soprano Reah Clymer<\/strong>, of Collinsville, Mississippi, also remarked on the experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\u201cHe was incredible,\u201d she said. \u201cIt was great to work with him.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Their song together served as the finale for a concert lasting more than three hours that featured prominent gospel artists Crystal Aikin, Jermaine Dolly and Group Fire. A live recording of the show will be submitted for consideration in the Grammy Awards\u2019 special event category. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Not only was this the first time VUU has recorded a live performance, but also the first time Walker has performed with the choir for its homecoming gospel concert. He said he intends to shine a light on the two talented choirs. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI felt like the world needs to hear what comes out of Virginia,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Walker added that as he watched the Chamber Singers during the concert, it was clear that they were well-prepared.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI was amazed by the looks on their faces,\u201d he said. \u201cThey knew the words, they knew the lyrics.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n
\n
Hezekiah Walker, a prominent Grammy Award-winning gospel artist, led the two choirs as vocalist for “I Need You to Survive.”<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\nUsing music to connect<\/h2>\n\n\n\n As a student majoring in music and peacebuilding, Clymer said she\u2019s learned to use music as a form of connection across differences and cultures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While EMU and VUU are both faith-based liberal arts institutions with strong music programs, the two schools have contrasting racial demographics and musical heritages. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
EMU has a mostly white student body and VUU is a historically Black university. Traditionally, Mennonites sing in four-part harmony and don\u2019t dance or move around as much when they perform, Clymer said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But, as the choirs sang \u201cI Need You to Survive,\u201d rows of them linked arms and swayed back and forth. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt was a cool breaking of that barrier to wrap our arms around each other and move a bit during that song,\u201d Clymer said. \u201cIt\u2019s a song about coming together, so it was a good tangible manifestation of that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That scene also left a powerful impression on Nissley.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt was just a really good experience on stage, just being able to look at each other and sing the words to each other,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Walker said the EMU singers and musicians were invited to build unity. He emphasized the importance of collaboration across different cultures and races.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThere are groups that are fighting, there are backgrounds that are fighting, but then there\u2019s another group of people,\u201d he said. \u201cWe come from different backgrounds but we\u2019re not fighting, we\u2019re loving on each other.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Clymer said one of her favorite memories from the trip was seeing Chamber Singers Director Benjamin Bergey <\/strong>and VUU Gospel Choir Director Joel Lester<\/strong> hug at the end of their performance together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\u201cJust to see them embracing each other like brothers, that image is imprinted in my mind,\u201d she said. \u201cThat was a really sweet moment.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n
\n
Hezekiah Walker (left) performs with the EMU Chamber Singers and Virginia Union University Gospel Choir on Sunday.<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\nA partnership in peace<\/h2>\n\n\n\n Plans for the event came together last year when a board member of VUU and the Commonwealth Alliance of Rural Colleges \u2014 of which EMU is a member \u2014 approached the EMU and VUU presidents and proposed the idea of a joint music concert. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bergey said the 18-student choir received its invitation about a month prior and worked quickly to prepare for the show. He wrote the orchestra part for their nine strings musicians. And the EMU and VUU ensembles rehearsed their song together just before the start of the concert on Sunday. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Those in attendance included President Susan Schultz Huxman<\/strong>; Executive Advisor Amy Springer Hartsell<\/strong>; Dan Ott<\/strong>, dean of the School of Theology, Humanities and Performing Arts; Shannon Dycus<\/strong>, vice president of student affairs and dean of students; Harrisonburg Mayor Deanna Reed<\/strong>; and Music Program Director David Berry<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\nHuxman has said details are being worked out for EMU to host the VUU Gospel Choir in Harrisonburg next year for a concert.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Clymer welcomed the continued partnership between the schools.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt would be really cool to see some of the same people again and to bring something like that to Harrisonburg,\u201d she said. \u201cIt would be a real gift to the community here.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
It\u2019s not every day that students at EMU get to share the stage with one of the biggest names in gospel music. So, when members of the EMU Chamber Singers ... read more about Hezekiah Walker: Joint concert with EMU ‘a major success\u2019<\/span><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":302,"featured_media":54723,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7931,17562,5183],"tags":[17694,17633,17882,17912,17913],"feature":[17427,17241],"class_list":["post-54720","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arts","category-digest","category-music","tag-benjamin-bergey","tag-david-berry","tag-hezekiah-walker","tag-jacob-nissley","tag-reah-clymer","feature-emu-home-page-feature","feature-news-feature"],"yoast_head":"\nHezekiah Walker: Joint concert with EMU 'a major success\u2019 - EMU News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2023\/hezekiah-walker-joint-concert-with-emu-a-major-success\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Hezekiah Walker: Joint concert with EMU 'a major success\u2019 - EMU News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"It\u2019s not every day that students at EMU get to share the stage with one of the biggest names in gospel music. So, when members of the EMU Chamber Singers\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2023\/hezekiah-walker-joint-concert-with-emu-a-major-success\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"EMU News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/EasternMennonite\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-10-20T19:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/emu-wordpress-multisite-instance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2023\/10\/20142551\/IMG_0106-scaled.jpeg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1707\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Ryan Cornell\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@EMU_News\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@EMU_News\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Ryan Cornell\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2023\/hezekiah-walker-joint-concert-with-emu-a-major-success\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2023\/hezekiah-walker-joint-concert-with-emu-a-major-success\/\",\"name\":\"Hezekiah Walker: Joint concert with EMU 'a major success\u2019 - EMU News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2023\/hezekiah-walker-joint-concert-with-emu-a-major-success\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2023\/hezekiah-walker-joint-concert-with-emu-a-major-success\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/emu-wordpress-multisite-instance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2023\/10\/20142551\/IMG_0106-scaled.jpeg\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-10-20T19:00:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/4d24e9770fdab8276fbcf29504123fdf\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2023\/hezekiah-walker-joint-concert-with-emu-a-major-success\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2023\/hezekiah-walker-joint-concert-with-emu-a-major-success\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2023\/hezekiah-walker-joint-concert-with-emu-a-major-success\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/emu-wordpress-multisite-instance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2023\/10\/20142551\/IMG_0106-scaled.jpeg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/emu-wordpress-multisite-instance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2023\/10\/20142551\/IMG_0106-scaled.jpeg\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1707},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2023\/hezekiah-walker-joint-concert-with-emu-a-major-success\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Hezekiah Walker: Joint concert with EMU ‘a major success\u2019\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/\",\"name\":\"EMU News\",\"description\":\"News from the Eastern Mennonite University community.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/4d24e9770fdab8276fbcf29504123fdf\",\"name\":\"Ryan Cornell\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Hezekiah Walker: Joint concert with EMU 'a major success\u2019 - EMU News","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2023\/hezekiah-walker-joint-concert-with-emu-a-major-success\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Hezekiah Walker: Joint concert with EMU 'a major success\u2019 - EMU News","og_description":"It\u2019s not every day that students at EMU get to share the stage with one of the biggest names in gospel music. So, when members of the EMU Chamber Singers","og_url":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2023\/hezekiah-walker-joint-concert-with-emu-a-major-success\/","og_site_name":"EMU News","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/EasternMennonite","article_published_time":"2023-10-20T19:00:00+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2560,"height":1707,"url":"https:\/\/emu-wordpress-multisite-instance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2023\/10\/20142551\/IMG_0106-scaled.jpeg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Ryan Cornell","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@EMU_News","twitter_site":"@EMU_News","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Ryan Cornell","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2023\/hezekiah-walker-joint-concert-with-emu-a-major-success\/","url":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2023\/hezekiah-walker-joint-concert-with-emu-a-major-success\/","name":"Hezekiah Walker: Joint concert with EMU 'a major success\u2019 - EMU News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2023\/hezekiah-walker-joint-concert-with-emu-a-major-success\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2023\/hezekiah-walker-joint-concert-with-emu-a-major-success\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/emu-wordpress-multisite-instance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2023\/10\/20142551\/IMG_0106-scaled.jpeg","datePublished":"2023-10-20T19:00:00+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/4d24e9770fdab8276fbcf29504123fdf"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2023\/hezekiah-walker-joint-concert-with-emu-a-major-success\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2023\/hezekiah-walker-joint-concert-with-emu-a-major-success\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2023\/hezekiah-walker-joint-concert-with-emu-a-major-success\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/emu-wordpress-multisite-instance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2023\/10\/20142551\/IMG_0106-scaled.jpeg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/emu-wordpress-multisite-instance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2023\/10\/20142551\/IMG_0106-scaled.jpeg","width":2560,"height":1707},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2023\/hezekiah-walker-joint-concert-with-emu-a-major-success\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Hezekiah Walker: Joint concert with EMU ‘a major success\u2019"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/","name":"EMU News","description":"News from the Eastern Mennonite University community.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/4d24e9770fdab8276fbcf29504123fdf","name":"Ryan Cornell"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54720","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/302"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=54720"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54720\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":54729,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54720\/revisions\/54729"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/54723"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=54720"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=54720"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=54720"},{"taxonomy":"feature","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/feature?post=54720"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/emu-wordpress-multisite-instance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2023\/10\/20142755\/IMG_0070-1-1024x683.jpeg\")
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/emu-wordpress-multisite-instance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2023\/10\/20142947\/IMG_0121-1-1024x683.jpeg\")