There has been a bold and vibrant sound from Dillard University over the last 50 years. It comes from the direction of Dr. S. Carver Davenport, the longest-serving HBCU choral director.
Davenport has been the associate professor of music and director of concert choir for the New Orleans-based HBCU since arriving there in 1975, Essence reports. Davenport worked with past Dillard leadership to set a fundamental foundation that helped save music education in NOLA.
The Hampton University graduate came to Dillard after studying with his mentor, critically acclaimed composer Dr. Roland M. Carter.
Davenport’s former students admit there was a better understanding of his teachings during his first years at Dillard, which came as Black America was trying to find its way in a newly desegregated country.
“We still had parts of our parents’ experiences from the Civil Rights Movement. While singing, we represented the children of the future,” said Courtney Carter, a student in the 1980s, highlighting that many of her classmates were second and third generation Bleu Devils.
Dr. Valerie Anne Jones Francis, a 1979 choir member, remembered how
the choir “exceeded the standard” under Davenport’s leadership.“We learned classical music and understood the importance of singing negro spirituals in its original dialect,” the award-winning vocalist said.
Davenport’s sound took the choir—and his career—to high and low places, including Houston, Memphis, and Chicago and serving as a sound of hope as New Orleans went through Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
The choir performed for U.S. presidents such as Gerald Ford and Barack Obama and Davenport was the music director for the 1990 Super Bowl halftime show, the “Salute to New Orleans.”
Davenport’s recognition comes when HBCU choirs are performing on world stages and going viral for their distinct Black sound. In June 2025, Florida Memorial University’s Ambassador Chorale performed at Carnegie Hall, according to HBCU Game Day.
The Fellowship Gospel Choir of North Carolina A&T State University set another standard on social media after its outstanding rendition of Rickey Dillard’s “More Abundantly” went viral on social media.
Texas College choir earned the 2025 University Choir of the Year at the annual Sound Awards in March, its first time
receiving the award. Director Charles Shaw started the group with six members in 2022. It is now an ensemble of 70.RELATED CONTENT: Dillard University President Seeks To Heal Black-Jewish Relations