Marquette Gospel Choir’s “Lift Every Voice and Sing” concert spotlights Milwaukee campus tradition and historic anthem

Concert details and venue

The Marquette Gospel Choir is scheduled to present its annual spring concert on Sunday, April 13, 2025, at 4:30 p.m. at Weasler Auditorium on Marquette University’s Milwaukee campus. The performance was announced as open to the public with no registration required.

Weasler Auditorium, connected by a covered promenade to the Alumni Memorial Union, is a 496-seat venue equipped for musical performance and campus events, including a stage, dressing rooms, a box office and chorus risers.

The choir’s place on campus

Marquette’s Gospel Choir operates through the university’s Campus Ministry and is described as welcoming students across races and faith traditions who want to engage spirituality through gospel music and praise. The choir’s repertoire includes contemporary gospel and spirituals in the gospel tradition. The choir has been led by director Debra Duff, and it has been presented as accessible to students with varying levels of singing experience.

Why “Lift Every Voice and Sing” remains central

The concert’s theme, “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” invokes one of the most recognized hymns in U.S. cultural history. The lyrics were written by James Weldon Johnson, and the music was composed by his brother, J. Rosamond Johnson. The song was first performed publicly in 1900 and was later promoted by the NAACP as a defining anthem within African American civic and religious life. It has long been sung in churches, schools and public commemorations, reflecting both sacred tradition and the pursuit of civil rights and full citizenship.

“Lift Every Voice and Sing” has been published in sheet-music form for more than a century and has circulated widely as a congregational hymn and choral work.

What audiences can expect

The spring concert was positioned as a seasonal program leading into Easter, aligning gospel performance with the liturgical calendar while remaining open to the broader community. While the specific set list was not publicly detailed in the announcement, the event is framed as a choral performance rooted in gospel tradition and spiritual repertoire.

• Date and time: Sunday, April 13, 2025, 4:30 p.m.
• Location: Weasler Auditorium, Marquette University, Milwaukee
• Access: Open to the public; no registration required

For Milwaukee audiences, the concert represents both a campus arts event and a civic-facing performance connected to a long-standing musical tradition, anchored by a hymn that has continued to carry historical and spiritual resonance across generations.