Raymond Wise '83 wins Emmy for film on music of Black church

A documentary concert film about the traditions, historical significance and meaning of Black church music that Indiana University professor Raymond Wise ‘83 wrote and conducted has earned national and regional awards from the television industry and a journalism organization.

“Amen! Music of the Black Church,” a WTIU documentary that premiered in April 2020, earned three awards this summer:

A silver Telly Award in the Religious/Spiritual category.

First place in the Documentary/Special category from the Society of Professional Journalists.

Regional Emmy Award for Best Historical/Cultural content during the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Lower Great Lakes Chapter’s virtual awards ceremony.

“I’m really honored by it. I really didn’t expect it,” said Wise, the IU African American Choral Ensemble director and professor of practice in African American and African Diaspora studies in the IU Bloomington College of Arts and Sciences. “You do what you do at a certain level, and for me it’s a ministry, a calling. You don’t do it for the awards or accolades.”

Wise said that “Amen! Music of the Black Church” aired nationally in at least 30 major cities, and served as a companion piece to the Henry Louis Gates PBS series “The Black Church: This Is Our Story. This Is Our Song.” Stations would often air them consecutively.