The Chattanooga Choral Society for the Preservation of African American Song will present its annual Lee Norris Mackey Memorial Concert at 5 p.m. Saturday in Second Presbyterian Church, 700 Pine St.
The performance is free, but a $10 donation is encouraged to help fund the choral society’s educational projects. According to Choral Society member Fred McCray, those projects have included scholarships to collegians and a children’s concert at Memorial Auditorium.
The late Dr. Mackey was a co-founder and former director of the Choral Society, according to information provided by Sylvia Dance.
In addition to being an educator for more than 30 years, he undertook a research project to investigate the programming, performance and recordings of African-American spirituals by choirs of historically black colleges and universities. His research found there was a significant decline in the performance of spirituals, verifying his belief in the need for a choral society.
According to McCray, a former classmate of Mackey’s, the late educator sought a grant with which he helped found the local choral society.