» AUDIO: Click to hear a recording of the Winston-Salem State University Choir singing "That's How Good God Is," under the direction of D' Walla Simmons Burke
Christopher Hawley said he had trouble meeting people when he arrived at Winston-Salem State University -- so much so that he was thinking about going back home to Durham. Then, he said, a friend suggested that he try out for WSSU's choir.
He tried out, was accepted and decided to stay for another semester.
Now a senior, Hawley says that his relationships with choir members and the choir's formidable director, D'Walla Simmons Burke, made all the difference in his career at WSSU.
Photo: Choir Director D'Walla Simmons Burke philosophy is simply, "You can do nothing great by yourself." The Fort Valley, GA native was educated at Hampton University, UNC Greensboro and has lead the WSSU Choir as conductor to perform Faure's Requiem at New York's Carnegie Hall, becoming the first black female professor to debut as a conductor in this venue. In 2006, the WSSU choir was invited to perform with the Dvorak Symphony Orchestra in Prague, Czech Republic.
"The people in choir are like family to me," he said. "If it wasn't for choir, I probably would have transferred to another school."
He thinks of Burke, he said, as a second mother.
"She's very stern. She's going to push you, but that's a good thing," he said. "My mother's in Durham -- she's not with me now. Ms. Burke is right here with me."
Burke has been the director of choral and vocal studies since she came to WSSU in 1989. She had been teaching at Voorhees College near Denmark, S.C.
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