Donna Hill: 20 years with Festival Singers

“Time does fly and it really especially flies when you're doing something that you love so much."
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In this interview, we are joined by Donna Hill, the talented and long-serving Director of Festival Singers, one of the four choirs within Carolina Voices. With over 20 years of leadership in our chamber choir, Donna shares the inspiring journey of how she first joined the group and how the Festival Singers have evolved under her direction. As they prepare for their upcoming concert, “Harvest of Harmony”, Donna also offers a glimpse into the future, with hopes of continuing to nurture new talent and commission more original works. It’s a conversation filled with passion, music and a deep commitment to community and artistry

This interview was hosted by Carolina Voices Marketing Coordinator, Alex Sierra.
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Transcript provided below:

Alex Sierra
Thank you so much, Donna, for joining me today.

Donna Hill
You are so welcome. Thank you.

AS
I could do a great introduction, but I'm sure it'd be even better if you just quickly introduce yourself, tell us who you are.

DH
I'm Donna Hill and I'm the director of the Festival Singers, which is one of four choirs in Carolina Voices. And we are the small chamber choir of the group. And what I really mean by chamber choir is that we do a wide range of music, ranging from a little bit of classical to traditional choral music to spirituals, folk tunes, and we also have commissioned new choral music in the past.

So I joined Carolina Voices a little over 20 years ago. I received a phone call, when the organization was making some changes and modernizing the group in Charlotte. There were some leadership changes, so they called and said, “Oh my, we have this season programmed already for a concert in the fall, but our leadership has changed. Could you come and prepare Festival Singers for that concert?” And after some conversation, I said “Yes, of course. I'd be happy to.” And I did what I committed to for that short period, then went back into my other music world and life. And at the beginning of that year, just a few months later, I got another call that said, “You're really the one that we want to lead this group if you will.”

So I was totally honored to have been called in the first place and then honored that after their diligent search that they came back and offered the opportunity to me. And I can hardly believe, frankly, that it's been 20 years. Time does fly and it really especially flies when you're doing something that you love so much.

And that's what's true for me and that's music. And that is working with other people, in this case singers, who just love to sing and love to make those connections with each other through song and with our audience through song. So that's just a little about me.

AS
I love that. 20 years, that's amazing. And how does it feel to celebrate 20 years with Festival Singers?

DH
Yeah. So as I said It really is quite exciting and it has gone by so quickly. And year after year, it's different because year after year, we have a new season and year after year, there are opportunities for us to look at how we can bring our message through music, make connections with our community, and re-identifying the group every few years. Who are we? Who do we want to be? What is our purpose? It's really over those 20 years that there's been a wide range of special projects or concert themes or connection with the community. And it's always exciting when you can bring those messages and the connection with the community through song and serve at the same time.

AS
Yeah. And like you mentioned, the festival singers has really evolved underneath 20 years of leadership. Do you have any personal growth or, certain memories that really stand out in regard to your tenure here?

DH
Gosh one of the greatest memories for me and one of the very proudest accomplishments for us is when we were able to professionally record and produce our first CD. We started that project in 2018, and we were able to bring that to absolute fruition where we each had our own CD to show for the hard work that we had collectively done over the years.

So that was a really, really proud moment. And nowadays, people get their music in a wide variety of ways that doesn't include that little disc called a CD. So our music is still out there on some of the music streaming channels, and we still have a few CDs if someone still has a CD player.

AS
I love that. That's something that they're going to pass down for generations, and it'll become, the next new thing. But if they're not interested in a CD, you do have an upcoming performance. Do you want to tell us a little bit about that?

DH
Yeah on November the 24th of this year, we're doing a concert that is entitled Harvest of Harmony, and really that concert focuses on creativity of giving, gratitude, and generosity.

That's just before Thanksgiving. And so, the music that we've selected really has themes of gratitude and giving thanks. Through music, we are connecting, making a community connection with a local organization. The bottom line is asking our audience to join us in bringing either food products, or clothing, or something to support one of the food banks in the Charlotte area, and/or we're looking at trying to find a way to have a connection to continue to support Western North Carolina after this hurricane.

AS
Yeah, I mean I love to hear that both being able to support with all those different things, and then also through song as well. I know that's important to all of us. I know I have my calendar marked for that now, and I'm very excited to attend.

DH
Awesome. We'll be happy for you to be there, and we'd love for everyone to join us.

Our music, our style; our concerts are more of an intimate setting, if you will. And what that does is it allows the singers, and myself, to connect to one another. That's what's important first. And then if we're connected and absolutely know why we're singing what we're singing and what it means to each of us, then our job is to share that and give that to the people who are in our audience.

Harvest of Harmony is on a Sunday afternoon, and it's a beautiful way to spend an afternoon, that you just give yourself that gift to come and let us take you on the journey. There will be some upbeat messages, and some very calming, soothing messages that are very important to the heart.

AS
I love that. And the timing, like you said, for it being right before Thanksgiving. It's always nice to go into Thanksgiving week having the kind of music to cleanse your soul. And also just being in a really giving and thankful mindset. It's just beautiful.

Going a little bit past the upcoming performance, do you have any specific visions for the future for festival singers for the next 20 years, maybe?

DH
Oh, let me get out my crystal ball! One of the things I really hope that will continue that we have done over the last few years, particularly seen in Carolina Voices, is having the younger generation participating. They have graduated high school, they've graduated college, they sang when they were in high school, they sang when they were in college and they are coming back to the area, coming home if you will, or, gosh, so many people moved new to Charlotte.

My hope is that we will continue to see the younger generation who simply have not had music in their lives because they've been off getting their educations, that they will come and find Carolina Voices and then especially, I hope they will have an interest in the festival singers, but just get them to Carolina Voices to sing because we do serve a wide range of singers from the young kids to multiple generations above that.

So that's one hope, is that we will continue to grow and develop, and that we will add new singers to the fabulous volunteers that we already have. And I also hope that the Festival Singers will continue to be able to look for special projects. And one of the next things on my list I'd love to do, is to go back and commission another new choral work.

We've commissioned three different times, new choral music to be written specifically either about us, or with us in mind, or with a topic that we discuss with the composer. So, I really would like to continue to bring that element back. It's been a few years, so I think it's time to create some new opportunities in music for composers and choral groups like ours.

AS
That's so great. Especially just to really immerse yourself in part of the community and to get a piece commissioned is so cool. As someone who's newer to the group, I'm very excited and I'd love to see that and then ultimately hear that goal that you have in mind.

Thank you for all that you’ve done the past 20 years. And I will have to just encourage everyone to go and mark the upcoming Harvest of Harmony performance on their calendars. November 24th at 4 PM at St. John's Baptist Church. And say hello if you see me, and we'll see you in action.

DH
Awesome. Listen, Alex, thank you so much for your time.

AS
Thank you, Donna. I appreciate it.

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