Carter is founder and CEO of MAR-VEL, a publisher specializing in music and traditions of African American composers, and a life member of the National Association of Negro Musicians Inc.(NANM).

ABOUT ROLAND CARTER

Distinguished as a composer, conductor, and pianist, Roland Carter is the Ruth S. Holmberg Professor of American Music in the Cadek Department of Music at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. He formerly chaired Hampton (Institute) University's department of music and conducted its internationally acclaimed choirs for nearly a quarter of a century. His accomplishments as a leading figure in the choral arts include concerts with major choruses and orchestras in prestigious venues nationwide, as well as lectures, workshops, and master classes. From presidential inaugurations to the smallest church, from scholarly presentations for national gatherings of musicians, educators, and preservationists to private coaching with individual singers, Dr. Carter lends his keen ear, bright mind, and talented hands to projects of every sort. In recognition of his stature, he has served on National Endowments for the Arts' Heritage, Access and Choral Panels and was honored by Shaw University (Raleigh, NC) with an honorary doctor of music degree. Recently, Carter was awarded National Honorary Membership by Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia Fraternity.

Carter is most especially noted as an authority on the performance and preservation of African American music, having produced and appeared on programs for national and international radio and television networks in support of these aims. He has directed the Chattanooga Choral Society for the Preservation of African American Song for 14 years, and founded MAR-VEL, a music publisher specializing in the music of African American Composers and Traditions.

Carter is an unquestionably gifted composer-arranger. During the 2000-2001 season, The Chattanooga Symphony Orchestra premiered his first full orchestral composition - COMMON GROUND; an overture, infused with subtle themes drawn from the Negro Spiritual, which the composer describes as an "autobiographical essay." His composition HOLD FAST TO DREAM was performed during 2001-2002 season by both the Atlanta Symphony and on the Plymouth Music Series. It is Roland Carter's arrangement of "LIFT EVERY VOICE AND SING" that is most often used to present the anthem in formal settings. This arrangement also served as the Space Shuttle Discovery's wakeup call at 4 a.m. on Wednesday, July 5, 2006.

A colleague of his once shared her belief that the angels 'sat upon his shoulders and whispered the score' for his arrangement of the spiritual, IN BRIGHT MANSIONS ABOVE; not a far-fetched notion for those who have heard the work performed.

In addition to performance and academic pursuits, Carter serves as President of NANM. He also sits on several boards including, the National Association for the Study and Performance of African American Music, Allied Arts of Greater Chattanooga and Chattanooga African American Museum (CAAM).