Annual Simmons-O’NealMemorial ConcertSunday afternoonIf You GoWhat: Simmons-O’Neal Memorial Concert.When: 3:30 p.m. Sunday.Where: Greater Friendship Primitive Baptist Church, 1208 Glenwood Drive.Admission: Free but donations accepted for both choirs’ scholarship funds.
Two Chattanooga choirs will join voices to present a concert Sunday in memory of their former directors, both of whom were well-known music educators in the public school system.
The Chattanooga Boys Choir and the Chattanooga Choral Society for the Preservation of African American Song will collaborate to present the 17th annual Edmonia Simmons and Everett O’Neal Memorial Concert.
Boys Choir director Vincent Oakes said that among numbers the choirs will perform will be=
Simmons, an alumna of Hampton Institute in Virginina, was a high school music teacher for more than 50 years. She taught at Sterling High School in Greenville, S.C., before coming to Howard High School, from which she retired in 1975.
Simmons received numerous awards during her teaching career, including Teacher of the Year in 1960, Evans Foundation Master Award in 1968 and Tribute for Exceptional Service to Howard High School, where she was inducted into the Howard Hall of Fame.
She was a co-founder of the Chattanooga Choral Society for the Preservation of African American Song and founder of the Chattanooga Chapter of the National Hampton Alumni Association, for which she was president for 25 years.
O’Neal was director of the Chattanooga Boys Choir for 20 years.
He began his music career playing in dance bands with his father. His own group, the Everett O’Neal Orchestra, was a New Year’s Eve tradition at the Chattanooga Choo Choo for 17 years.
O’Neal was a teacher and supervisor in the Hamilton County School system for 25 years, teaching math and music at Red Bank junior high and high schools, and he served as director of secondary education. He was a coordinator of the Hamilton County Music Festival for many years.
O’Neal began this memorial concert in 1994 after the death of Simmons, his good friend. Upon the passing of O’Neal, the choral tribute was expanded to include him.