Overview:

Sixteen years after beginning with expectations of just a few dozen singers, Baltimore’s acclaimed community choir has performed in Rome and Carnegie Hall. Now another landmark awaits: Atlanta’s historic Ebenezer Baptist Church.

For 16 years, the Community Concert Choir of Baltimore has carried the city’s rich musical tradition into cathedrals, concert halls and historic spaces. Now the choir is preparing for another milestone: Its first performance in Atlanta at the historic Ebenezer Baptist Church.

For founder and director Dr. Marco K. Merrick, the upcoming concert represents more than simply another engagement. It is the choir’s maiden voyage to a city deeply connected to African American history, higher education, sacred music and the Civil Rights Movement.

LEARN MORE: The Woman Behind Dr. King’s ‘Letter’ Is Getting Her Due

“To go to the spiritual home of Dr. Martin Luther King — the historic Ebenezer Baptist Church — there are just linkages there,” Merrick said.

City Connections

Ebenezer is also personally connected to Merrick. 

The church is led by Sen. Raphael G. Warnock, a Georgia Democrat, who previously served as pastor of Douglas Memorial Community Church in Baltimore. Merrick served on the search committee that brought Warnock to Douglas Memorial and called to encourage Warnock to apply for the position.

Warnock led the West Baltimore congregation for four and a half years before leaving for Ebenezer in 2005. 

Merrick had not visited the Atlanta church during Warnock’s tenure until recently, when he traveled there for a walkthrough and site visit in preparation for the concert.He described the sanctuary as a “beautiful place” with remarkable acoustics.

To go to the spiritual home of Dr. Martin Luther King — the historic Ebenezer Baptist Church — there are just linkages there.

Dr. Marko K. Merrick, director, community concert choir of baltimore

“It’s an amazing edifice,” Merrick said. “It’s marvelous.”

The connections between Baltimore and Atlanta extend throughout the choir. Some members of the nearly 200-person choir have relatives in Atlanta or at Ebenezer, while others attended colleges and universities in the city.

“We’ve got Spelman women and Morehouse men and Clark people,” Merrick said of the choir’s members. “Everybody knows somebody in Atlanta.”

Baltimore, Rome, Carnegie Hall

Atlanta’s deep community of musicians, ministers and church leaders also made it a natural destination. Merrick said friends, colleagues, associates and family members throughout metro Atlanta are looking forward to the choir’s arrival.

The Atlanta appearance continues an unlikely journey for a choir Merrick initially believed might attract only 30 or 40 singers for an annual concert. Instead, the Community Concert Choir of Baltimore grew from an organization that began “with nothing” into an ensemble that draws thousands of listeners and travels internationally.

The choir has performed at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial in Washington and in venues across the Baltimore-Washington region. More than 3,000 people attended one of its appearances at the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen in Baltimore, where some in the over-capacity crowd had to be turned away. The choir also has performed at the Baltimore Basilica, the nation’s first Roman Catholic cathedral.

As the choir grew in popularity, it traveled to Rome in December 2023 to perform. When Merrick was first asked to assemble singers for the trip, he hoped to recruit about 24 voices. But nearly 90 choir members answered the call.

They agreed to pay their own way to participate in the series of holiday performances for the Diocese of Rome and a special solo concert for a delegation from the Vatican. Highlights of the choir’s trip, which included performances with Eric Waddell & the Abundant Life Singers and an Italian gospel choir, are posted online. 

And then there was Carnegie Hall in June 2025

‘I Go Where We’re Welcome’

Despite those accomplishments, Merrick said the choir does not choose destinations according to a predetermined expansion plan.

“I go where we’re invited,” he said. “I go where we’re welcome.”

The public response to the Atlanta announcement suggests other invitations may follow. After news of the concert appeared on social media, an Atlanta musician shared the announcement. People Merrick did not know responded that it was about time the Baltimore choir came to Atlanta.

RELATED: Voices of Truth Uses Gospel Music to Build Community and Faith

For an organization approaching its 16th anniversary, the excitement signals both how far the choir has traveled and how many audiences may still be waiting to hear it.

“People already have said, ‘You’re going to Atlanta. That means you’re going to be invited back again,’” Merrick said. “And other people are going to want you to come to this place and that place.”