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Orchestra at Maryville College, Maryville College Community Chorus partner for a concert to honor Veterans Day

Oct. 17, 2025

Poster for the Nov. 11 joint concert by the Orchestra and Maryville College and the Maryville College Community Chorus

At 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 11, The Orchestra at Maryville College and the Maryville College Community Chorus will collaborate once again for a performance that will be patriotic in tone and feature songs tying back to World War II. 

Dr. Ace Edewards, the conductor of the Orchestra at Maryville College, and Dr. Dwight Dockery ’05, the conductor of the MC Community Chorus, have a long history of uniting their respective musical groups to create something spectacular. 

“Since Dr. Edewards and I started in our respective roles in 2022, we have collaborated each semester. It is always a joy to have the opportunity to have a colleague who is as easy to work with and as capable as Ace,” said Dockery. “It is really wonderful collaborating with the Orchestra at Maryville College.” 

Not only will the Orchestra at MC and the MC Community Chorus partner with each other, but they will also be sharing the stage with the beloved children’s choir the Scotties Singers, as well as the Highlander Chorale. 

“To my knowledge, this is the first time that the Highlander Chorale and Scottie Singers have been featured in one of the Community Chorus concerts,” said Dockery. “I’m excited to have them here.” 

Alone, The Orchestra at MC will perform “America The Beautiful” by Samuel Ward. Then together, with close to 100 performers, the Chorus and Orchestra will perform a total of three songs: 

• “Verleih uns Frieden,” by Felix Mendelssohn.
• “Homeland,” by Gustav Holst.
• “The Testament of Freedom,” by Randall Thompson.

    According to Dockery, “The Testament of Freedom” was written for the University of Virginia in celebration of the 200th anniversary of the birth of Thomas Jefferson, whose texts the piece utilizes. In addition, the piece was composed at the height of the 1940s, during World War II, which gives the piece additional relevance, Dockery said. 

    “‘The Testament of Freedom’ is a wonderful piece that varies its texture and timbre to effectively support the drama of the text,” Edewards said. 

    For Dockery, the piece also holds personal significance. 

    “In my freshman year of college, Stacey Wilner, MC’s director of choral activities, programmed this piece in the spring 2002 as a response to the 9/11 tragedy. I’ve always found her gesture to be a poignant and moving way we as musicians can respond and help others process the events of the world,”he said.

    The fall concert by the Orchestra at Maryville College and the Maryville College Community Chorus will take place at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 11, in the Ronald and Lynda Nutt Theatre of the Clayton Center for the Arts. Tickets are $12.50, and free for veterans and Maryville College faculty, staff and students, although a printed ticket from the box office is required for admission. For more information, call the Clayton Center box office at 865-981-8590.

    — Written by McKenna Marr ’28

    Maryville College is a nationally-ranked institution of higher learning and one of America’s oldest colleges. For more than 200 years we’ve educated students to be giving citizens and gifted leaders, to study everything, so that they are prepared for anything — to address any problem, engage with any audience and launch successful careers right away. Located in Maryville, Tennessee, between the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and the city of Knoxville, Maryville College offers nearly 1,200  students from around the world both the beauty of a rural setting and the advantages of an urban center, as well as more than 60 majors, seven pre-professional programs and career preparation from their first day on campus to their last. Today, our 10,000 alumni are living life strong of mind and brave of heart and are prepared, in the words of our Presbyterian founder, to “do good on the largest possible scale.”