Spelman College and Morehouse College Celebrate Nearly a Century of Beloved Holiday Tradition with the 99th Annual Christmas Carol Concert

Spelman College and Morehouse College Celebrate Nearly a Century of Beloved Holiday Tradition with the 99th Annual Christmas Carol Concert

ATLANTA (November 17, 2025) — Spelman and Morehouse Colleges will once again come alive with music, joy and unity as the colleges present the 99th Annual Christmas Carol Concert, one of Atlanta’s most cherished holiday traditions. The Christmas Carol Concert historically signifies the start of the holiday season for surrounding communities, where both College’s Glee Clubs perform an array of traditional carols and contemporary-style interpretations of various holiday music to set the spirit of the season. This year’s performances mark the 99th year of this beloved celebration, as both institutions prepare to honor the centennial anniversary in 2026.

The three-night concert series, free and open to the public, begins on Friday, Dec. 5, at 7:30 p.m. at Morehouse College’s Martin Luther King Jr. International Chapel. It will continue at Spelman College’s Sisters Chapel on Saturday, Dec. 6, at 7:30 p.m. and will culminate with a final performance at Morehouse on Sunday, Dec. 7, at 6:00 p.m. Doors will open an hour before each Morehouse performance and 45 minutes before the Spelman performance. All concerts will be livestreamed on the YouTube channels of both institutions.

As we approach the 99th Annual Christmas Carol Concert, we stand on the shoulders of generations who raised their voices in song, carrying forward not just a tradition, but a living legacy of Black excellence, hope, and harmony,” said Spelman College Glee Club Director Dr. Kevin Johnson. “This concert represents our commitment to preserving the artistry and spirit that have defined the Spelman and Morehouse choral communities for nearly a century. It is our heartfelt gift to Atlanta, our community, and the world.”

Having celebrated its centennial anniversary last year, the Spelman College Glee Club—the oldest collegiate choir of African American women in the nation—continues to champion the legacy of Black choral music and inspire generations of women to raise their voices in harmony and purpose.

The distinguished concert series began in 1927, founded through the vision of Spelman President Florence Matilda Read and Morehouse President John Hope. First held in Spelman’s Sisters Chapel, the event has grown into a cherished annual tradition, warmly embraced by the community and celebrated for its spirit of joy and togetherness.

This year’s Christmas Carol Concert is both a celebration of the season and a tribute to the legacy of nearly a century of song as a gift to the Atlanta community and beyond from Morehouse and Spelman Colleges,” said Dr. David Morrow, director of the Morehouse College Glee Club. “The music of the Christmas season is beautiful, heartwarming, and welcoming.  Our students have rehearsed well to sing meaningful music in an atmosphere of celebration and joy in this season of light and hope. Each year, our seasoned or new audience members hear traditional carols, Christmas spirituals, African songs, and new Christmas music, and tell us this is how they start their Christmas season. What a pleasure and honor it is to unite and sing!”

As Spelman and Morehouse prepare to celebrate 100 years of the Christmas Carol Concert in 2026, this year’s event serves as both a joyful reflection on tradition and a spirited anticipation of what’s to come.

For more details on the 99th Annual Christmas Carol Concert, including livestream access, visit the 99th Annual Christmas Carol Concert page.
 
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About Spelman College

Founded in 1881, Spelman College is a leading liberal arts college widely recognized as the global leader in the education of women of African descent. Located in Atlanta, the College’s picturesque campus is home to 2,300 students. Spelman is the country's leading producer of Black women who complete Ph.D.s in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). The College’s status is confirmed by the U.S. News & World Report, which ranked Spelman No. 39 among all liberal arts colleges, No. 19 for undergraduate teaching, No. 2 for social mobility among liberal arts colleges, and No. 1 for the 17th year among historically Black colleges and universities.  Recent initiatives include a designation by the Department of Defense as a Center of Excellence for Minority Women in STEM, a Gender and Sexuality Studies Institute, the first endowed queer studies chair at an HBCU and a program to increase the number of Black women Ph.D.s in economics. New majors and minors have been added, including documentary filmmaking and photography, data science, refugee studies and gaming. Collaborations have been also established with MIT’s Media Lab, the Broad Institute and the Army Research Lab for artificial intelligence and machine learning, among others.



Outstanding alumnae include Children’s Defense Fund founder Marian Wright Edelman, former Walgreens Boots Alliance CEO Rosalind Brewer, political leader Stacey Abrams, Federal Reserve Governor Lisa D. Cook, former Acting Surgeon General and Spelman’s first alumna president Audrey Forbes Manley, Harvard University professor and former Dean Evelynn Hammonds, actress and producer Latanya Richardson Jackson, global bioinformatics geneticist Janina Jeff and authors Pearl Cleage and Tayari Jones.

To learn more, please visit spelman.edu and @spelmancollege on social media.



About Morehouse College
Founded in 1867, Morehouse College is the nation’s only college founded to educate men of color. Ranked as Georgia’s top liberal arts college for men, Morehouse produces more Black men who go on to receive doctorates than any other college in the country and is a top feeder school for Black men entering prestigious graduate schools and MBA programs. Also named Georgia’s #1 small college, Morehouse educates a selective group of 2,200 students each year, 60 percent of whom come from families with household incomes of $40,000 or less, yet many of which are highly recruited by Fortune 500 companies. The College has created more Rhodes Scholars than any other HBCU and has the #1 core curriculum among HBCUs nationally. It is the nation’s top producer of Black male graduates in the social sciences, and the top HBCU producer of Black male graduates in business administration, management, operations, English, foreign languages, Mathematics, statistics, philosophy, religious studies, and physical sciences. As the national epicenter for thought leadership on human rights and equity. Morehouse is committed to helping the nation address the challenges caused by institutional racism, income and health care disparities, lack of access to capital, detrimental public policy, and the need for high-quality education. Learn more about Morehouse College at morehouse.edu.