Finding Strength in Song

By Kim Wunner, December 5, 2025

The Community Legacy of the Dorothy Cotton Jubilee Singers

The Dorothy Cotton Jubilee Singers, lead by Dr. Baruch Whitehead. Photo Credit: Bianca Cunningham '27

Seventeen years ago, Baruch Whitehead, Professor of Music Education in the School of Music, Theatre, and Dance, was in his car listening to local NPR station WSKG. What he heard was so strong, passionate, and profound that he had to pull over to the side of the road to listen fully to the radio interview that would alter the trajectory of his work and, ultimately, the musical and cultural landscape of the Ithaca community.

On the air that day was civil rights leader and activist Dorothy Cotton. She was the highest-ranking female in the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) and a member of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s inner circle. She spoke about the essential role of music in the movement—how, without the songs, there may not have been a movement at all. As Whitehead listened, captivated, one truth struck him: She lives here. Dorothy Cotton, this giant of social justice, called Ithaca home.

“I absolutely must meet this person,” he recalled thinking.

At the time, Whitehead was leading a community choir called the Ithaca Jubilee Singers, a group dedicated to singing spirituals. The connection between Whitehead and Cotton could not have been more evident. A meeting was arranged through a mutual friend, and from it bloomed a deep friendship rooted in the understanding that music is a vessel for courage, healing, and collective liberation .

In 2010, Cotton received the National Freedom Award from the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis. To honor her achievement, the group was renamed the Dorothy Cotton Jubilee Singers (DCJS). The ensemble became a living, breathing reminder of the power of African-American spirituals to build community and inspire change.

Now, in its 15th anniversary year, the Dorothy Cotton Jubilee Singers stands as a testament to what can happen when music, community, and history come together with purpose. The ensemble is not simply preserving the African-American spiritual tradition—it is activating it, teaching it, and ensuring that it continues to build bridges across generations and identities.

"What was happening in the African-American experience was deeply human. Loss, hope, grief, joy—anyone can connect to those emotions. That’s where the community begins.”

Dr. Baruch Whitehead, Professor of Music Education in the School of Music, Theatre, and Dance and Music Director of the Dorthy Cotton Jubilee Singers

A Mission Rooted in History and Humanity

The Jubilee Singers began small, just 10 or 12 community members who loved to sing together. But even from the beginning, the intention was bigger than performance. Whitehead envisioned an ensemble modeled after the original Fisk Jubilee Singers, who toured the world to save their university and preserve African-American spirituals for future generations.

He also carried the personal history of these songs: music he heard from his mother and grandmother in the South. As a child, he didn’t understand why they sang them. When he grew up and became a classical oboist, his aspirations lived in symphonies and conservatories—not in the sorrow-lined, hard-earned harmonies of spirituals. But his grandmother, with the patient wisdom of someone who had lived through more than he yet understood, offered the truth: “These songs give me strength and courage.”

It wasn’t until adulthood that Whitehead fully understood what she meant. Spirituals aren’t just music; they are survival. They carry the experiences and emotions of enslaved people whose voices shaped the soul of a nation. They are humanity written in melody.

“People often ask, why were spirituals used?” he told me. “It’s because what was happening in the African-American experience was deeply human. Loss, hope, grief, joy—anyone can connect to those emotions. That’s where the community begins.”

Where Music Builds Community

What began as a small community ensemble has grown into a robust, intergenerational, interracial musical family of nearly 80 members, roughly 45 percent students and 55 percent community members. The group rehearses on the Ithaca College campus, creating a bridge between the institution and the broader community.

This mix—young and old, Black and white, gay and straight, lifelong musicians and brand-new singers—creates an environment unlike any other ensemble on campus.

“You feel it when you walk into rehearsal,” Whitehead said. “This is a place where everyone belongs.”

Paula Younger, IC’s Executive Director of Government, Community, and Constituent Relations has been a member of the ensemble for fifteen years. She was drawn to the group’s voice and message and finds joy in keeping the tradition of the spiritual alive. She says, “Music has the power to unite us. In every note, there is a reminder that freedom and dignity are universal aspirations.”

Jayna Simeon '26 sings with the Dorothy Cotton Jubilee Singers. Photo Credit: Bianca Cunningham '27

Students earn college credit for participating, and the ensemble enjoys formal recognition as an IC ensemble, complete with institutional support and a performance calendar that includes October and December concerts, the annual MLK celebration, and select community events.

In February, the group will represent Ithaca at the prestigious American Choral Directors Association (ACDA) conference in Providence, Rhode Island—an honor rarely given to community ensembles. After a rigorous application process, the group was accepted as an “Insight Choir” meaning they will perform and provide lecture on the work. The ensemble’s platform will center around their performance of Lena McLin's, Free at Last Cantata——a large choral work and tribute to the life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, whom McLin knew.

Khyle Wooten isthe Assistant Professor of Music Performance and Director of Choral Activities at Ithaca College, and Associate Music Director for the ensemble. When he talks about the honor of attending the conference, he also talks about the opportunity to open dialogue on the theme of freedom. He says the music invites us to think about “how does the past speak to the present and how can we speak back to the past?”.

But even as the group grows artistically, its foundation remains deeply personal. In rehearsal, Whitehead works not only on sound but on shared experience. Singers introduce themselves, share stories, and find connection through the music’s emotional roots.

Whitehead describes it as a “human bridge.”

“I can’t teach a white student what it’s like to be enslaved, but I can help them connect through what they do know—loss, love, fear, resilience,” he said. “That’s where understanding begins.”

The Work Continues: Expanding the Musical Canon

The Dorothy Cotton Jubilee Singers host the Feast of Carols Holiday Concert on Sunday, December 7th at 4:00pm in Ford Hall.

The Work Continues: Expanding the Musical Canon

Part of Whitehead’s mission is to push against the narrowness of traditional music education. “We do European classical music beautifully,” he said. “But that’s not the only music worth teaching.”

This Sunday, the Dorothy Cotton Jubilee Singers will welcome celebrated Metropolitan Opera tenor Limmie Pulliam as a guest artist for the annual winter concert, entitled “ A Feast of Carols.” The performance will highlight African American composers such as Lena McLin, whose Christmas cantata—rarely performed despite her significant contributions—will anchor the program. This attention to underrepresented composers reflects the group’s larger commitment to cultural diversity within the musical canon.

Pulliam will give a masterclass and perform with the ensemble, a rare opportunity for students and community members alike.

Representation, again, plays a powerful role here. Whitehead recalls being a young musician and seeing a single Black cellist in the Arkansas Symphony. That moment expanded his sense of possibility.

“Sometimes you just need to see someone who looks like you to understand you belong,” he said.

That sense of belonging is the heartbeat of DCJS.

More Than an Ensemble—A Community Legacy

Portrait of freedom fighter and Ithaca resident, Dorothy Cotton. Photo Credit: The Dorothy Cotton Jubilee Singers.

Dorothy Cotton understood the truth: Music can move people to action. It can transform fear into courage, strangers into allies, and a small community ensemble into a force for justice and joy.

Fifteen years in, the Dorothy Cotton Jubilee Singers continues to honor her legacy. Cotton passed away in 2018. She is remembered not only in name but in spirit—in every rehearsal, every performance, and every voice raised in harmony for freedom, resilience, and hope.

Hear The Songs of Freedom

Celebrate the holiday season with the Dorothy Cotton Jubilee Singers this Sunday, at 4:00 p.m. in Ford Hall in the James J. Whalen Center for Music. Tickets are free.

Sing Your Heart Out

The Dorothy Cotton Jubilee singers is just one of many music ensembles at Ithaca College. Students sing, play, and perform as soon as their freshman year.