Roland Carter and the Definitive Voice of "Lift Every Voice and Sing"

Our President, Rufus Jones, recently had the privilege of sitting down with Roland Carter (b. 1942), one of the towering figures of American choral music. Born and raised in Chattanooga, Tennessee, where he continues to live and work, Carter has dedicated his life to the preservation, performance, and celebration of the American choral tradition. His influence reaches across generations of singers, scholars, and music lovers throughout the country.

Carter is responsible for the arrangement of “Lift Every Voice and Sing” that has become the standard for ensembles as diverse as the Howard University Choir and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. It is the version Rufus considers definitive, and its reach continues to grow. The arrangement was performed by the James Weldon Johnson Foundation National Hymn Choir at the NFL Pro Bowl and NFL Draft in 2025, and again at the NFL Draft this past April, bringing James Weldon Johnson's enduring words to millions of new listeners.

“Lift Every Voice and Sing” was written in 1899 by James Weldon Johnson (lyrics) and his brother J. Rosamond Johnson (music), and first performed on February 12, 1900, by a choir of 500 schoolchildren at the Stanton School in Jacksonville, Florida, as a tribute to President Abraham Lincoln's birthday. Though the Johnson brothers soon moved to New York, the children of Jacksonville carried the song with them to schools, churches, and communities across the South, and within two decades it was widely recognized as the “Negro National Hymn.” The NAACP formally adopted that designation in 1919, twelve years before the Star-Spangled Banner became the official national anthem of the United States. Over the century that followed, the hymn became a cornerstone of Black worship, a rallying cry of the Civil Rights Movement, and eventually a presence on the largest stages in American life, from presidential inaugurations to the Super Bowl. Its three verses, moving from the weight of a painful past to a prayer for enduring faith and freedom, have lost none of their power. "From presidential inaugurations to the smallest church, Roland Carter lends his keen ear, bright mind, and talented hands to projects of every sort."

Composer, arranger, conductor, pianist, scholar, researcher, and teacher: Roland M. Carter holds the Ruth S. Holmberg Professorship of American Music in the Department of Music at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga (UTC). Over the course of his 23-year tenure there, Professor Carter conducted choirs, taught classes, accompanied recitals, arranged music, funded concerts, fostered inter-departmental productions, chaired the department, and mentored and recruited students with remarkable dedication. He was also a tireless advocate for affirmative action, working to make the department more welcoming and representative.

His accomplishments as a leading figure in the choral arts span concerts with major choruses and orchestras in prestigious venues across the country, as well as lectures, workshops, and master classes that have shaped the next generation of choral musicians. Carter brings the same seriousness of purpose to every occasion he engages with, whether that is a scholarly presentation before a national gathering of musicians, educators, and preservationists, or a private coaching session with an individual singer finding their voice for the first time.