Justin Blandford and Jake Woollen speak on the collaborative effort Voices of America Fest

Jeff Williams:
Welcome to Community Voices. I'm your co-host Jeff Williams. And in the studio today, we have Justin Blandford.
Justin Blandford:
Yes.
Jeff Williams:
Yeah, okay, all right. And Jake Woolen.
Jake Woollen:
That's right. All right, I like it. I like it. One take. One take, Jeff. You're 2 for two.
Jeff Williams:
And Jake, you're the director for the Springfield Choral Society. That's right. That's correct. Okay, and Justin, you are the site superintendent. You're the site superintendent.
Justin Blandford:
You can call me the dishwasher if you need to. That's okay.
Jeff Williams:
For the State Historic Sites in Springfield. State Historic Sites in Springfield. And you're both in here to talk about Voices of America?
Jake Woollen:
That's right. Voices of America. We are very excited about it! Well, it's a festival that's coming up later in April, presented and performed by the Springfield Choral Society. We're hoping to present as broad a swath as we can of the music and the different styles of vocal music from coast to coast from 1776 and well before, all the way up to the present day, and to celebrate the incredible richness and diversity, eclecticism, the kaleidoscope of music (styles) and voices, and the plural is the most important part of it that we have in this country.
Jeff Williams:
That's cool to hear about the really early music. Is that kind of hard to access?
Jake Woollen:
Absolutely, absolutely. we'll try to incorporate some Native American elements as well into the program, and not only music, but you'll also hear poetry and many different voices. And then there's actually a piece we're performing, which was... like a fight song for the Minutemen in the Revolutionary War. It's called Chester by William Billings, who's seen as sort of the first composer in the classical sense, I suppose, in the American tradition, listing all these British generals and slandering them. So it's kind of fun to just, the song takes you right back into that time and place.
Jeff Williams:
Right. Here in this part of the world, it's hard to wrap your mind around going back in time, in a way. Most of the things we see, the buildings… everything… is pretty recent. When you go to some other parts of the world, you all of a sudden realize, wow, this is a thousand-year-old building. I've never seen one of those before until… you do (travel to other parts of the world). You just aren't… (except) Cahokia Mounds maybe. So it is nice, even though our history is more recent than a lot of parts of the world, It's kind of cool to stretch it back. I understand you're covering more than this, but it's cool that you are going back basically as far as you can.
Jake Woollen:
Well, for me, as you know, Justin and I are both big history nerds here. Okay.
Jeff Williams:
I wondered about that because you're both shaking your heads quite a bit as I was saying this stuff. So, okay, I like it.
Justin Blandford:
I think you should speak for both of us on that. (laughter) Yeah, that's good. Yeah, no, we're self-disclosed nerds. That's right.
Jake Woollen:
For me, a song and a piece of music is actually a great way to transport yourself. back in time. Because you're not only getting objective information about a time and a place, but you're really getting the feel of it and the emotion of it. And you're literally putting the words of people from centuries ago in your own mouth. And you know, one of our goals with the program was to have pieces that would also take us back to specific significant events in American history. Not only the Revolutionary War, but we've got “Glory” from the (motion picture) Selma, which takes us right back to 1965 and the campaign for the passing of the Voting Rights Act. You've got a piece by Chen Yi, who's a Chinese-American composer, which is an homage to the 30,000 Chinese immigrants that built the entire western part of the transcontinental railroad. You've got Randall Thompson's Alleluia, which was written during World War II, and it's kind of a a five-minute quest to see how can I sing the word Alleluia in a celebratory way… during a time like this?
Jeff Williams:
That's a very poignant way to put it, too. Justin, so you, your involvement with this?
Justin Blandford:
We're delighted to be mainly in the host category for this event. Obviously, when you hear Jake's infectious attitude and his positivity and his vision for the way music can enhance our lives and enhance our roles that we play as citizens. It's very admirable. So, we're thrilled to be the host location at the Old State Capitol for just one of the parts of what's going on. We have a long history that goes back to the early parts of, I know, my career back, you know, almost two decades working with Marian Vanderloo and other leaders in this group. To continue that legacy, by working with Jake and the modern leaders of that organization is really an honor for us. We're sort of in the time travel business in this way by providing an environment where when Jake likes that spark with the music and the creativity, and the energy of the songs, we position people in the historic setting that can amplify that opportunity. undoubtedly, there's going to be a few moments, hopefully more than a few moments in that concert where it really does begin to settle on the audience how fortunate we are to be able to take in this kind of program in the historic setting that is the old state capitol. where many of the debates and arguments and civil discussions about the changing meaning of freedom for different individuals in different communities in our country took place. And so, you can imagine being in the room where discussions about women's property rights happened. You can imagine being in the room where discussion about educational rights by African-Americans took place, where Frederick Douglass came in the capital city in 1866 to give remarks, not to mention yet the history of Abraham Lincoln and other mid-19th century leaders. So we're just delighted to help set the scene, if you will, and to give people one touchpoint, one period of time in which to position themselves in while they open their minds and take in the music and prepare to be inspired by the program.
Jeff Williams:
And… we are here… kind of in an area that a lot of people do associate… primarily with Lincoln. Sometimes people that are here kind of numb out to the (history). They almost don't think about some of the historical things that happened in this area. It's nice to present things like this where people can come back and re-gather that. (To) re-understand the importance of things like this. For example, I remember the first time I went out to Gettysburg area. And it's kind of the same thing. Sometimes the people who are there… they see it every day, so it kind of starts to wash over them. But the importance is always there. It's cool to have events that reconnect people (with history). (In turn) even the people who live here who may be like, “Oh, I know a lot of (this, but) there's always more to learn about it and other things to discover. When you put yourself in that position, you can feel it again, reconnect. So thank you to both of you for doing this kind of thing.
Jake Woollen:
I think as a musician, we are always trying to make the familiar, strange. In the sense that, particularly as a classical musician, we're coming back again and again to pieces that we've reckoned with and lived with for many, many years. And every time we want the feeling to be the ink is still wet on the page. This is “take one” and there's something fresh and there's something revolutionary about this. And people are going to hear a lot of tunes in this festival that they know very well. Down to the River, Shenandoah, Little Sparrow, Dolly Parton, My Girl, and Please Postman, Motown. And we're hoping that by putting them in this poignant context and also by having them share a program with some strange bedfellows, you know, we're jumbling it all up, the whole big buffet of American music, that maybe people can experience the familiar in a heightened and a fresh way.
Jeff Williams:
And so this will take place.
Jake Woollen:
So the festival is going to be April 24th and 25th. We have a first performance on Friday evening the 24th, that's going to be in the House Chamber of the Old State Capitol. And then the second performance will be the following evening, Saturday the 25th, at First Presbyterian Church. Also, a very historic location in our city and a connection there to the Lincoln family. And in my mind, most importantly, a beautiful acoustic to sing in. So, tickets for both of those concerts are going to go fast. We are anticipating selling out both of them. In particular, the Old State Capitol event has a little smaller seating capacity compared to the church. So I would encourage people to get on our website.
Jeff Williams:
Remember that people. Listen up.
Jake Woollen:
It’s springfieldchoralsociety.org … you definitely want to book (tickets) in advance. If you're not so savvy with online stuff, no problem. Shoot us an e-mail, get in touch with us. You can find our contact online and we will make sure that you get your ticket.
Jeff Williams:
Okay, and is there like a physical location a person can go to or is it all mostly online?
Jake Woollen:
It would be either online or just send us an e-mail or give us a call. We can put you on the will call list.
Jeff Williams:
I do remember working with the Sangamon Experience. They had an event in the Old State Capitol, where people brought in any family memorabilia that they then more or less took records of it, to catalog it, you know, while it's still around.
Justin Blandford:
Those are History Harvest!.
Jeff Williams:
History Harvest, exactly.
Justin Blandford:
History faculty here has done a great job, I think. In, sort of in a documentary form, in a paper form, elucidating some of the same values that Jake has spoken. I think Dr. Hunter has been a leader of that. Yes, yeah, he was part of that, I believe, someplace else earlier in his career, and seeing that as a gap, really, in being able to help people recognize the history that's around them, just as you were articulating earlier. encouraging them to bring those in and connect with some of the graduate students and others who might be able to shed some light. And then, as you mentioned, to document that. So the Old State Capitol is hopefully, you know, our goal is to be the host for a variety of events in the city. You know, right now we're working with the long-standing Old Capitol Art Fair Board, you know, planning to be host to part of the events. Of course, we're delighted to partner with Kidsium and other downtown cultural institutions to be a part of, a recent surge in marketing activity, pulling on our collective strengths and trying to encourage people to return downtown. So when Jake approaches us, it really, we see it as part of our daily duty, if you will, to be listening. I joke with my staff that when we get really good at this, we stop planning our own events and we're consumed by what the community brings to us. And it's a little humorous, but honestly, there's a lot of truth in that because we really do want to be out listening in the community so much and be nimble enough to respond, flexible and open-minded to where we can keep our eye out for what's going on. Hopefully, in some cases, anticipate it, which is great. But when we can't anticipate it, we're looking and ready and willing and able to work with partners like the Springfield Choral Society to plan outstanding events like this. You know, and again, we wish that we had the seating of a small stadium so that we could accommodate the interest, but hopefully that just creates enough demand that we end up, you know, doing it again sometime.
Jeff Williams:
But that's the thing is too, it kind of it's in a way it's nice because it makes this intimate thing. It's like you've got to, Jake, as you mentioned, you got to get your tickets early because this is something where it isn't some huge auditorium where in a way some things can be lost, some of the intimacy can be lost.
Jake Woollen:
You know, we're lucky to be able to work with amazing and exuberant people like Justin. And I would say I do think, you know, there has been this uptick in interest in engaging with the historical sites in Springfield. And I also see it with (people) singing. And I just think there's a real hunger right now for things that feel real.
Jeff Williams:
Feel authentic.
Jake Woollen:
The real thing, you're there in the room with a bunch of other people of all different ages from all different parts of town. You're doing the most authentic human thing you can possibly do. You don't have any tools. You don't have any instrument. It's just your flesh and it's your breath. And you're engaging with these amazing works of art where you have to be vulnerable with the people around you because you are engaging with the deep questions. questions of being alive but also being playful. And if you're singing Motown, then you're not going to stand there like a statue. Right, yeah. But I do think in some ways, history and singing feel to me like the multivitamins that are going to address a lot of the afflictions that we're feeling right now as a society. And so we are trying to spread the gospel of singing as far and wide as we can in town. We have now not only our flagship choir, we have a number of smaller ensembles, which you're going to hear in the performance at the Capitol. But we also just last year partnered with SIU Medicine and Westminster Presbyterian Church to launch a dementia-friendly choir, which meets on Wednesday mornings. We have coming up in the fall, we're very excited about the launch of the Springfield Children's Choir, which is going to be a zero tuition, zero barrier experience hosted over at the Salvation Army. And that's in partnership with District 186 and the Salvation Army. So we just think the more people are singing, probably the healthier we're going to be as a city and as a country. We are blessed to be living in a vocal mecca, a vocal and a theatrical mecca. I mean, there are so many amazing performers in this town, and I feel very fortunate to have many of them in the choir. Our choir is, I'm not the only conductor in the choir. I mean, we've got tons of amazing music educators, church choir directors, really eminent musicians and educators in their own right. There's also a huge amount of grassroots leadership from within the choir that I'm really grateful for. We also are going to be joined by a couple guests for the program. We've got Reggie Guyton joining us to do Glory from Selma, and he's also going to be helping us out with a number from In the Heights. So any Lin, Manuel Miranda fans, make sure to show up.
Justin Blandford:
Again, I want to encourage the community to reach out there and check out the Springfield Choral Society's website. And this is just one of the many great things that they do every year. It's an honor for us to partner with them. And if you can get your tickets quickly enough while there's still supply, we'll look forward to seeing you at the Old State Capitol. And I'm sure they'll look forward to seeing you at the other venues as well.
Jeff Williams:
Once again, we're in the studio with Justin Blandford and Jake Woolen, both who are helping to put on Voices of America Fest, celebrating diversity of America. Justin, Jake, thanks a lot for coming in, both of you.
Jake Woollen:
Thank you, Jeff. Great to be here.
Jeff Williams:
Thanks, Jeff. Thank you. That will work.
Jake Woollen:
Justin, you got to run for office.
Justin Blandford:
Run, I will run from office. (laughter)
Jeff Williams:
Community Voices is a production of NPR, Illinois.