An article published in the Dillard Bulletin in 1940 on Dillard's first choir director, Frederick D. Hall. Not only did he begin the University Choir legacy, he also helped create Dillard's Alma Mater, Fair Dillard.

Frederick D. Hall portrait
Spiritual Arrangements Published by Dillard Instructor <br /> The publication of three volumes of Negro spirituals, arranged by Fred- erick Hall, Professor of Music at Dillard, was announced in January. These three volumes contain thirty-odd of the better known spirituals and folk songs and are published in the arrangements which have gained such wide atten- tion when sung by Mr. Hall's choral groups at Dillard. Many of the songs in this collection were sung by the Dillard quartet which toured South America two years ago and which has recently appeared on Broadway. Mr. Hall is well-known for his compositions and arrangements of Negro melodies and in recent years has written in the choral form. Less than a year ago he conducted the first performance of a new cantata, 'Deliverance,' in which he made use of several Negro melodies. He is a graduate of Morehouse College with the Bachelor of Arts degree, of the Chicago Musical College with the Bachelor of Music degree, and of Columbia. University with the Master of Arts degree in music. He has also studied at the Pittsburgh Musical Institute and the University of London.

Below are more articles from the Dillard Bulletin about the University Choir's participation in the former Arts Festival held on campus, as well as the National Folk Festival.

Fourth Annual Arts Festival to be held April 14-21 Dillard University will hold its fourth annual Arts Festival from April 14 to April 21, it was announced early this month. Plans for the exhibition of paintings by Negro artists which has been a feature of the Arts Festival each year since its inception were an- nounced in December. Simultaneously, there were announced plans for an ex- hibition of photography by Negro amateurs and professionals, the first to be sponsored by the University. Pic- tures will be accepted until April 1 and the official opening of the exhibi- tion will coincide with the opening of the Arts Festival. Prizes totaling $115 will be awarded to the two best paintings and photographs entered. Although final arrangements have not been completed, present plans call for a motion picture and gallery tour of the exhibitions as the opening fea- ture of the Festival. On Monday, the University Chorus, in the first festival concert, will sing 'The Creation' by Haydn, and on Tuesday evening, the Players Guild will present Karel Ca- pek's three-act fantasy, 'R. U. R.'' In addition to these major programs there will be held throughout the week as- sembly talks, group discussions, and programs by the music and drama community groups. The Arts Festival is sponsored each year by the University to encourage a greater participation by the general public in the fine arts, and is the result of the combined efforts of the University's departments of art, music, and drama. In addition to the participa- tion of student and community groups,
Music And Drama Groups to Travel Extensively This Spring The music and drama groups of Dillard University have been signally honored by invitations to participate in two important festivals this spring. The Players Guild will appear at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill on April 4, 5, and 6, as a part of the folk drama festival and the twenty- first birthday celebration of the Caro- lina Playmakers, founded by Professor Frederick H. Koch, head of the folk play movement in the United States. The Players Guild will present a one act folk play written by S. Randolph Edmonds, Professor of Drama at Dillard. The Dillard chorus has accepted an invitation to sing at the National Folk Festival in Washington, D. C., on April 25. The chorus will present scenes from a folk pageant, 'Heritage,' written by Frederick Hall. They will also attend some of the meetings at West Virginia State College of the Association of Music Teachers in Ne- gro Schools of which Mr. Hall is president. The chorus will fill en- gagements in Baltimore and in other cities enroute.

A photo of the 1947-48 Concert Choir, and an article from the Dillard Bulletin published around 1948 about the annual Christmas concert as well as other music programs.

CHOIR First row, left to right: Orethiel Thomas (accompanist), Henry Wil- liams, Fred Scott, Albert Green, Earnest Battle, Ernest Webb, Mose Pleasure, Alena Johnson, Pearl Goins Gladys Rutledge, Berneta Akines, Martha Belle King, Dollie Jefferson, Lois Bashful, Audrey Norman, Orrin Clayton Suthern II (Director). Second Row, left to right: Gladstone C. McDowell, John W. Johnson, Alfred Rey- naud, Jarrette C. Atkins, Hubert Magee, Paul Hayward, Emma Bolden, Morena Hatch, Rhetaugh Graves, Deborah Robinson, Ruth Severan, Janie IaRue. Third Row, left to right: William Pitts, Nathaniel Williams, Edward Robinson, Ryland Currie, Robert Coard, Edwin White, Joseph Beslin II, Berweda Hatch, Delores Pierre, Irene Gilder, Laura Painia, Mary Holloway, Drusilla Daniels, Muriel Ray, Charlie Mae Clark, Regina Jckson, Iva Jones, Countess Twitty, Mamie Reason, Betty Louise Johnson.
Whitman Avenue. a play dealing with racial discrimination and its blighting effect alike on those who employ it or who ate victimized by its expression. A group of younger players were cast in the principal roles and gave a creditable performance. Again the set and lighting were very well done. The Barretts of Wimpole Street is the next scheduled offering of the Players Guild, to be followed in the late spring by the bill of one-act plays. The Dillard University Band, augmented by new members and employing new instrumentation, played for all home football games last fall. A small ensemble from the Band also played the music for the Christmas production of “The Living Madonnas,” a program that saw the first appearance of a new choral ensemble, The A Capella Choir, which has developed into the University's concert choir. The University Choir of fifty-eight voices rendered the traditional Christmas program, Handel’s The Messiah, employing student soloists who gave entirely commendable performances. The Choir also furnished music for the formal vesper services on Sunday afternoons during the past semester. Both the A Capella Choir and the University Choir have given concerts off campus during the fall and winter, the former having sung in several Louisiana cities in recent months and the latter having given a program for the State meeting of the Louisiana Teachers Association. The Department of Music inaugurated during the fall a series of Friday afternoon programs designed to give its majors experience in concert performances, the series having attracted and pleased a growing audience at these performances. In addition, the Department formed a small string ensemble to afford Opportunity for study and performance to faculty members and citizens of the community desiring employment of their interest and talents, the group meeting on Friday evenings. It is hoped that from this small nucleus may grow a community orchestra capable of concert performance. The latest venture of the department is a weekly Institute of Church Music sponsored in conjunction with the department of Religion. The object of the institute is to assist churches in the community to improve the quality of the music used in worship services. The venture has met a growing response among ministers and directors of church choirs. “Source of all nobleness and pow’r.” A stated objective of Dillard University is to assist its students to the achievement of an attitude born of religion. This is no mere phrase-ology,for the University consciously seeks to lead students into an intelligent inguiry concerning the claims of religion upon ‘their lives, and to assist them in working out...
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