Indeed, it will be, in the words of the late, great singer Bill Withers, a “lovely day.”
This Friday, Apr. 22, the choirs of Friends School of Baltimore and City Neighbors High School will join forces in the spirit of community, music and fellowship. The gathering will take place from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at Friends School, 5114 N. Charles Street.
The event is the outgrowth of an initiative developed by Music United, a nonprofit established by Stevenson resident Harrison Fribush in 2021. A Friends School sophomore and Krieger Schechter Day School graduate, Harrison, 16, created the organization after his 2019 Chizuk Amuno bar mitzvah service project, Music Matters Now, which raised funds and awareness for music education programs throughout Baltimore City.
Music Matters Now united the middle school choirs of Pikesville’s Krieger Schechter and the Cardinal Shehan School in North Baltimore’s Loch Raven community. Under the direction of Harrison, the choirs met for the first time on Jan. 18, 2019, for a morning of singing, collaboration and community-building.
The effort culminated in the release of a documentary, which garnered 100,000 views and launched a fundraising effort for two local music programs. Nearly $12,000 was raised, and the choirs appeared on ABC’s “The View” in January of 2020 with Broadway star Billy Porter.
The students performed a medley of songs — including John Lennon’s “Imagine” and Diana Ross’s “Reach Out and Touch (Somebody’s Hand)” — with Porter. In addition, Harrison was interviewed by “The View” co-host Whoopi Goldberg, who brought the Cardinal Shehan choir to the show in 2017 to sing Andra Day’s “Rise Up,” and an excerpt of the documentary was shown.
With the new partnership of Friends and City Neighbors High School, Music United aims to promote an ongoing community-wide program. The collaboration will kickstart an effort to unite additional school music and performing arts programs throughout the region.
“We aim to demonstrate the critical role music and performing arts play in connecting communities and bringing people together,” Harrison said. “We have an opportunity to bring Baltimore youth together through a medium that everyone can get behind.”
Approximately 50 students between the two schools will participate in Friday’s event. As a group, they will rehearse Withers’ 1977 classic “Lovely Day” with an arrangement by gospel choir conductor Robert T. Gibson, and the effort will culminate in a final filmed performance. The choirs will also share a meal and work together.
The collaboration will lead to a fundraising effort, launching on Apr. 22 , with 50% of funds to be contributed to the City Neighbors High School Music Program. The remaining funds will enable Music United to launch its widespread programming. Extensive fundraising will begin with the release of a documentary, chronicling this week’s collaboration, in early May.
For information, visit music-united.org/unitythroughmusic
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