In the half-century that S. Carver Davenport has led the Dillard University Concert Choir, he has taught thousands of students, traveled across the South, visited countless colleges, churches and grand auditoriums and performed for two sitting presidents.
Still, his favorite spot is behind his piano in his classroom.
There, he has inspired and developed the small historically Black university’s best singers since 1975, pulling musical selections from a range of genres and eras and singing one or two measures at a time over and over at evening practices until perfection.
“All these years, I have seen how the students are passionate about singing … and how they take what and how I teach to heart,” said Davenport, 75. “I see how they engage with the audience and how they recruit other students to be part of a singing organization that doesn’t necessarily sing what they hear on social media…