Members of PVAMU’s choir perform in the 1980s.
PRAIRIE VIEW, Texas (August 3, 2026) – For 150 years, music has given voice to the Prairie View A&M University story through chapel services, commencement ceremonies, concert halls, and athletic traditions. As PVAMU commemorates its historic Sesquicentennial Celebration, that tradition will take center stage with the creation of the Prairie View A&M University Sesquicentennial Celebration Choir, a signature artistic ensemble that will commemorate the University’s extraordinary legacy through the universal language of music.
The choir will be led by internationally acclaimed conductor, scholar and educator Dr. Jeffrey Allen Murdock, who will serve as the University’s Sesquicentennial Artist-in-Residence Choir Director.
Jeffrey A. Murdock, Ph.D.
One of the nation’s foremost authorities on Black sacred music, Dr. Murdock has dedicated his career to preserving, advancing, and celebrating the musical traditions that have shaped generations of African American communities. The recipient of the 2021 GRAMMY Music Educator Award, he has conducted ensembles across the United States and around the world, made his Carnegie Hall conducting debut in 2013, and recently joined the Yale Institute of Sacred Music and Yale Divinity School as professor in the practice of sacred music and associate director of its Interdisciplinary Program in Music and the Black Church.
“I am deeply honored to serve as Artist-in-Residence and director of the Prairie View A&M University Sesquicentennial Choir,” said Dr. Murdock. “Celebrating 150 years of an HBCU that has educated, empowered and inspired generations is especially meaningful to me as a Black musician and scholar. I look forward to bringing together the Prairie View community through music to honor the University’s remarkable legacy.”
His appointment is especially fitting as PVAMU celebrates a musical legacy that has enriched the University for generations. Throughout its history, Prairie View A&M has cultivated distinguished musicians, conductors, educators, and composers whose artistry has extended far beyond The Hill. Leaders such as Dr. Robert A. Henry, the visionary educator and founder of the Houston Ebony Opera Guild, helped establish a tradition of musical excellence rooted in artistic achievement and cultural stewardship. That legacy continued through internationally acclaimed pianist, educator, and former dean Dr. Danny Kelley, whose decades of leadership and performance brought distinction to PVAMU’s music program, and through George Edwards, whose transformative direction of the Marching Storm elevated one of the nation’s premier HBCU marching bands to national prominence.
Throughout the year, the choir will serve as one of the University’s premier artistic ambassadors, performing at milestone celebrations and select community engagements that commemorate 150 years of excellence, resilience, scholarship, and service. But beyond its performance calendar, the ensemble is, above all, a celebration of people; of the generations of Panthers whose voices, talents, and shared experiences have shaped the University’s remarkable 150-year journey.
It is a vision President Tomikia P. LeGrande believes captures the spirit of the sesquicentennial celebration.
“For 150 years, Prairie View A&M University has transformed lives through scholarship, leadership, service, and culture. Throughout that history, music has been far more than performance,” said Dr. LeGrande. “It has preserved our traditions, celebrated our triumphs, strengthened our community, and carried forward the spirit of this institution. The Sesquicentennial Celebration Choir is more than a commemorative ensemble; it is a living expression of Prairie View A&M University’s enduring character, a tribute to the generations whose voices have shaped our story, and a declaration that this institution speaks—and will continue to do so—with confidence and conviction.”
As Prairie View A&M University begins its next 150 years, the Sesquicentennial Celebration Choir invites the Panther community to help carry the University’s story forward—one voice, one performance, and one generation at a time.
To learn more about this historic ensemble, visit pvamu.edu/150/choir.
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