Singers, students and community members gathered in the Vinegar Hill Theatre auditorium Wednesday evening to “Lift Every Voice and Sing” in remembrance of the three student athletes who were fatally shot Nov. 13, 2022 — Devin Chandler, D’Sean Perry and Lavel Davis Jr. The memorial concert lasted around 90 minutes and featured hip-hop, gospel and a cappella music from various Charlottesville community choirs, as well as the University’s own Black Voices Gospel Choir and student a cappella groups.
The concert was organized by the Public Engagement in Governance Looking, Listening, and Learning Laboratory, a community-focused policy group housed within the Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy. The lab focuses on fostering inclusive and participatory approaches to policy that reflect the safety concerns of community members.
Brian N. Williams, director of PEGLLLLab and associate professor of public policy at the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy, organized this event as a way to help carry on the legacy of Chandler, Perry and Davis Jr., who worked in Williams’s lab.
“I try to center the humanity of all, because that’s something that Lavel did,” Williams said.
Williams tasked his research assistants to come up with something that could unite diversity on and around Grounds. Nitya Varigala, research assistant and third-year College student, was one of the lead research assistants for the planning of this project alongside Adrian Klaits, fellow lead research assistant and second-year College student. They both thought a concert could be specifically well suited for the Charlottesville community, both on Grounds and off.
“[We took] something that's huge in the U.Va. community — which is a capella groups — and [incorporated that] with all other types of music genres and diversity within the Charlottesville community,” Varigala said.
Varigala and Klaits welcomed attendees at the beginning of the concert and introduced each performance throughout the evening. The atmosphere in the auditorium was intimate, with a crowd of roughly 100 attendees and singers. The first performance was an original rap titled “Why Carry? Why Shoot?” delivered by Marcel Mincey, a guest lecturer who has worked with Williams for years and focuses on the school-to-prison pipeline.
“‘Why carry? Why shoot?’ became a question for me. I know why people carry guns, but I just don't understand why we're so quick to shoot … I don't think we understand the responsibility of what happens when we shoot,” Mincey said.
After Mincey’s performance, four University student a capella groups — the Academical Village People, Achoostics, Harmonious Hoos and New Dominions — took to the stage. Each group performed two songs, ranging in genre from pop to folk rock to R&B. Standouts included Achoostics’ reflective performance of Simon & Garfunkel’s “Bridge Over Troubled Water” and AVP’s joyful rendition of the Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell duet “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough.”
The Black Voices Gospel Choir, the second-oldest Black organization at the University, followed the a cappella performances with their rendition of “For Every Mountain” by The Kurt Carr Singers. Before the group began, the choir’s co-presidents, third-year College student Kishanti Barmoh and fourth-year College student Chandler Nandkumar, introduced the choir and delivered a heart-felt speech together, extending their sympathies to the athletes’ loved ones.
“The opening statement of [‘For Every Mountain’] serves as a reflection on the wonderful and impactful lives of the three young men tragically lost and honors the grace God poured upon them to live such meaningful, purpose filled lives that continue to inspire and uplift those they have touched,” Barmoh said.
Barmoh stood in front of the choir and delivered a powerful solo that began slowly with her voice alone, “I’ve got so much to thank God for / So many wonderful blessings and so many open doors.” As her fellow singers joined in and the song steadily and soulfully crescendoed, many audience members closed their eyes and waved their hands up high. Elena Osaro-Olai, member of Black Voices and fourth-year Nursing student, spoke on what it meant to perform in this environment.
“I was a first-year when the event occurred, so coming back and singing as a fourth-year, honoring the community and the families, being within this community, it's just very important,” Osaro-Olai said. “Just relying and leaning on each other for these hard times.”
The second half of the concert featured more Christian worship music. The University’s own Dr. Kevin McDonald brought lively energy to the theatre as he urged audience members to participate in a call-and-response during his performance of “Lord Prepare Me To Be A Sanctuary.” Mt. Zion First African Baptist Church Music Ministry sang “Thank You” and “If God Said It,” each song emphasizing the importance of finding peace and gratitude through God.
Members of the local MLK Jr. Community Choir then filled the stage. Choral director Jonathan Spivey introduced his group, noting that the Nov. 13 tragedy did not solely affect the University.
“We were all moved by the day, and not just as a University, but as an entire community,” Spivey said. “It touched all of us.”
The choir sang “Dwell In The House” and “Heal Our Land,” which Spivey said he did at the first memorial service in 2022. Spivey also emphasized that the choir was representative of both Charlottesville and heaven’s diversity.
“I think of this choir as the community of Charlottesville,” Spivey said. “And as I say to the choir all the time, I believe what heaven really will look like — It's not Baptist votes, it's not the Pentecostal folks, it's not white, it's not black, but it's all of us.”
The final song embodied Spivey’s message, as the “Town & Gown Unity Choir” — an informal group listed on the program comprising all singers present — sang an unrehearsed performance of “You Are The Source Of My Strength.” Fourth-year Batten student Phoebe Zamoff, who is in one of Williams’s classes, said it was a moving conclusion to an evening that showed the power and unity music can bring in the face of tragedy.
“Seeing the community come together, especially at the end for the final song, was very powerful,” Zamoff said. “It shows how community bonding and love and support can help people get through some really difficult times.”
Williams said he hopes that this concert will become a recurring event.
“We hope and pray that this will be an annual event that will grow beyond this space, because we want to make sure that people understand that love never dies,” Williams said. “Their legacy will never die.”
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