Lauderdale: Hilton Head concert passes on the gift of music

When does a pretty voice become more than music?

When it belongs to Marian Anderson.

The operatic contralto shattered glass ceilings for African Americans in the 1940s and 1950s.

It was more than music when she entertained 75,000 people at the Lincoln Memorial on Easter Sunday 1939. She got that platform after being told black people could not perform at Constitution Hall.

And though her beautiful voice was stilled half a century ago, the music didn't stop.

A special singer will give voice to Anderson this Friday on Hilton Head Island.

Kim Michael Polote of Savannah also has a voice that has carried her across the globe.

Polote is inspired by Anderson's perseverance and her work as an ambassador for her nation and her race despite long odds.

Polote wasn't even born on the day that Anderson made more than music in Beaufort. In February 1957, Anderson performed in the Robert Smalls High School gym. She was invited by the principal, W.K. Alston, who brought many world-famous African Americans to show students of his segregated school that they could be somebody.

Anderson's performance raised money for the Robert Smalls marching band. She sang Handel and Schubert, but also "Lullaby," "The Ploughboy," "Songs My Mother Taught Me" and "Blow, Blow the Winter Wind."

And she sang the spirituals of the sea islands, "Go Down Moses," "O, What a Beautiful City," "My Lord, What a Morning" and "Roll, Jordan, Roll."

"Music makes a difference," Polote told me. "Our voice is a unifying instrument. We are vessels. It is a gift that is not even our own. It is given to us to give away."

Polote's gift showed early. Before she could read, she knew the music. At 4 or 5, she was performing at St. Anthony's Catholic Church in Savannah, and this was not a traditional service. They had drums and tambourines.

Her gift was developed by Patty Schreck, the choral director at St. Vincent's Academy and organist for 66 years at the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist.

And even though Polote does not read music and was never trained like Anderson was, her gift has brought national and international accolades.

"It's not about winning Grammys," she said. It's more than music. Her gift is a common demoninator for mankind. It's a unifying message. Bottom line, she said, it's a message of hope.

Polote will honor fellow Savannahian Johnny Mercer by singing his songs on Friday. And she'll honor Anderson by singing "Deep River" and "Let Us Break Bread Together on Our Knees."

"Marian Anderson had a lot of obstacles in her way, but she never let it steal her song."

If you go

Fourth Annual “Winter Concert — Music for the Heartstrings” piano, violin and vocal recital featuring pianists Sanford Jones and Marvin Keenze, violinist Effie Mydell and singer Kim Michael Polote.

5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. Friday, Jan. 8.

Providence Presbyterian Church, 171 Cordillo Parkway, Hilton Head Island.

Admission is free but donations are accepted for the Gullah Museum of Hilton Head Island.

Contact: 843-681-3254 or 912-231-0243.

Follow columnist and senior editor David Lauderdale at twitter.com/ThatsLauderdale and facebook.com/david.lauderdale.16.

This story was originally published January 5, 2016 at 6:09 PM with the headline "Lauderdale: Hilton Head concert passes on the gift of music."