The American Spiritual Ensemble was founded in 1995 in order to maintain and honor the music pioneered by enslaved African people. ASE is a critically-acclaimed ensemble that is dedicated to performing provocative, dynamic concerts around the world celebrating the American negro spiritual. Additionally, ASE frequently visits educational institutions in order to teach students about the history and traditions of enslaved people in America and their spirituals. ASE also presents master classes, television performances, radio performance, and interviews on the music of the American negro slave. 

The mission of the American Spiritual Ensemble is to preserve and continue the tradition of storytelling through the performance and preservation of the American negro spiritual. Performing these spirituals serves as a tribute to the many lives lost or destroyed during slavery in the United States; a horrible time for human kind. These songs, a combination of African, American, and European traditions, create a new type of melody in which a sense of identification was created within the enslaved community. These songs now stand as a testament of the strength found through faith during times of hardship as well as a unifying force among all peoples. These songs are beloved all around the world.

Dr. Everett McCorvey, tenor, is the founder and director of the American Spiritual Ensemble. A native of Montgomery, Alabama, he received his degrees from the University of Alabama, including a Doctorate in Musical Arts. Vocal Excellence is a hallmark of Dr. McCorvey’s work. As a teacher, he has given master classes and vocal workshops throughout the United States, Europe, South America, China, Japan, and Poland. Dr. McCorvey is the founder and Music Director of the American Spiritual Ensemble. McCorvey recently produced a CD Anchored in the Lord featuring singers from the Bay View Music Festival’s American Negro Spirituals Intensive Program, where McCorvey serves as Director.

His career has spanned all areas of the performing arts industry, from performing to musical directing, vocal teaching, producing, impresario, conducting, union representing, administrative work, and mentoring.

Dr. McCorvey is of the belief that every citizen in the country should find ways to give back to his or her community, city, or country. He has been very active in his volunteer activities working to keep the arts as a part of the civic conversation and currently serves on many local, regional, and national boards. He holds an Endowed Chair in Opera Studies/Director of Opera and Professor of Voice at the University of Kentucky in Lexington, Kentucky.

Dr. McCorvey is also entering his seventh season as the Artistic Director of the National Chorale of New York City. Celebrating over 50 years of great choral singing, the National Chorale is a symphonic choir which performs at Lincoln Center in New York City. The National Chorale is well-known in New York and around the region for its performances of the great choral titans as well as for the popular New York Messiah Sing-In at Lincoln Center! The Sing-In is one of the oldest sing-in’s in the country.

The Honorable Alicia Reece, your Hamilton County Commissioner, made history as the first woman and African American to win city, state, and county races in Hamilton County.

She is an experienced 20 year public servant who has held many roles on behalf of the citizens in the State of Ohio. She has won seven elections at the local and state levels and was the youngest woman to ever win a seat in Cincinnati City Council’s history.

Ms. Reece is an entrepreneur and serves as an Advertising, Marketing, and Political Consultant as well as speaks nationally. Ms. Reece is the Host of the popular Alicia Reece Soulfood, which is a national radio show and podcast that airs weekly.

Dr. Tammy L. Kernodle graduated with a BM in choral music education and piano from Virginia State University in Petersburg, Virginia. Dr. Kernodle received a MA and PhD in Music History from The Ohio State University. Her scholarship and teaching have been primarily in the areas of African American music (Classical and Popular), jazz, and gender and popular music.  She served as the Scholar in Residence for the Women in Jazz Initiative at the American Jazz Museum in Kansas City (1999-2001) and has worked closely with a number of educational programs including the Kennedy Center’s Mary Lou Williams Women in Jazz Festival, Jazz@Lincoln Center, NPR, Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame Lecture series and the BBC.

Listen to Margaret Bond’s Credo