Palm Beach Gardens – For the first time in its 50-year history the Florida Memorial University Ambassador Chorale will debut the students’ vocal talents in one of the most prestigious facilities in the world, New York City’s Carnegie Hall, on Saturday, June 21.

The renowned ensemble, founded in 1975 by the late Prof. Roosevelt Williams and currently directed by Dr. Argarita Johnson-Palavicini, represents South Florida’s only historically Black university, performing a range of musical genres including student compositions.

The Ambassador Chorale has received numerous accolades over the decades and performed throughout the United States, The Bahamas, and Europe. It was a performance with the New World Symphony at the New World Center in Miami Beach last summer that led to the Carnegie Hall invitation.

Following a year of fundraising and the support of donors including Miami Gardens Councilwoman Katrina Baskins, the Lions secured the financing for the trip and were set to travel to New York on Wednesday for Saturday’s 8 p.m. performance with the Choirs of America “In Harmony” Concert.

The 30-member ensemble under the direction of Dr. J. also will grace the Midtown Manhattan stage with a solo performance of the traditional African American spiritual, “He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands.”