Feb. 28, 2008 — The public is invited to a choral concert at Bertha C. Boschulte Middle School at 7 p.m. Saturday as some 60 former University of the Virgin Islands (UVI) students reunite on St. Thomas with their one-time choir director and mentor, Gloria Quinlan.
Quinlan, who helped lead the music program from 1978 to 1987 at UVI, known during some of that period as the College of the Virgin Islands (CVI), is on island for a series of performances at local schools, culminating in Saturday’s concert at BCB, followed by an 11 a.m. service at Christ Church Methodist at Market Square Sunday.
Now a full professor at Huston-Tillotson University in Austin, Texas, Quinlan has brought some two dozen of her current students to St. Thomas to perform, as well as administrators from her school who are eager to recruit talented local students to attend Huston-Tillotson.
Her current students will be joining forces with her former students, who range in age from early 30s to more than 60, to perform a range of songs on Saturday including jazz, African-American spirituals, classical, Baroque and local folk songs. The former CVI/UVI students include several from St. Thomas, as well as from islands throughout the eastern Caribbean and locales along the east coast of the U.S.
"I think the thing that excites me the most,” Quinlan said about her musical reunion, "is that we haven’t seen each other for over 25 years, and we are just excited to be back together again. That’s the theme — back together again. We had some wonderful years making beautiful music and the first rehearsal last night was so exciting. We spent the first 45 minutes just hugging and kissing."
Saturday’s concert should last approximately 90 minutes, and tickets can be purchased at Reichhold Center for the Performing Arts or at the door for $20.
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