Ravinia 2019, Issue 5, Week 9

Water Living is year marks the th anniversary of Sweet Honey in the Rock, the three-time Grammy-nominated a cappella performance ensemble rooted in African American history and culture. Ravinia asked Carol Maillard, one of the group’s founders, if she could recall that transcendent moment when she rst heard the blended voices of the original women’s quartet and determined that Sweet Honey in the Rock was going to be her full-time commitment. She dismissed that with a hearty laugh. Sweet Honey in the Rock takes its name from Psalm : —“But I would feed you with the nest of the wheat, and with honey from the rock I would satisfy you.” Based in Washington, DC, the group was founded by Bernice Johnson Reagon, then the vocal director of the DC Black Repertory Company. e ensemble was an outgrowth of vocal workshops that Reagon conducted with men and women in the company. e theater director had encouraged Reagon to put together a vocal ensemble. “We were singing really great music,” Maillard recalled. “But you have grown folks who have husbands and wives and children and jobs or who were nishing school. Bernice was working on her doc- torate and had two small children herself. Various people did not come to rehears- als. Finally, Bernice called a rehearsal in September and only four of us showed up. We said, ‘Let’s just sing.’ From that point on, if anything came through and Bernice was asked to perform, she would say, ‘I have a group I can bring with me.’ We took it one day at a time.” “Oh, honey,” she said. “You can’t be a part of Sweet Honey and say this is your main job. We don’t have top- songs. Nobody is playing us on the radio. What magazines are highlighting us? [ Ed.: At least one is! ] We’re not out there like that. e people who know us love us and appreciate us and really keep us going. But we’ve all had to do di erent things; singing in a nightclub, teaching; I’m a New York actress, lots of theater and commercials.” Nevertheless, the ensemble is poised to make its third appearance at Ravinia on July , performing not only in the Martin eatre but also a quick splash at the aquatic sculpture Chorus at the festival’s main entrance shortly a er the gates open. BY DONALD L I EBENSON S W E E T H O N E Y I N T H E R O C K P O U R S O N N E W H I S T O R Y 34 RAVINIA MAGAZINE | JULY 29 – AUGUST 11, 2019