The Boston Arts Academy choral group The Spirituals is headed to perform at Carnegie Hall. And they need Boston’s help.

The Spirituals is an ensemble of 32 students in the sophomore, junior and senior classes at Boston Arts Academy. They perform music from a broad spectrum of the African diaspora with roots in Negro spirituals. Many of the participants don’t have formal musical training, often due to a lack of access, but passion is prioritized over a lengthy resume.

Through the American Choir Directors Association, the group has been invited to perform a solo 30-minute concert at Carnegie Hall in May, a rare honor that students can put on their resumes for college applications and other opportunities. They are also competing in the World- Strides Heritage Festival in Atlanta in April against other choral and ensemble groups.

To make both trips possible, the group needs to raise $110,000 to cover the costs of travel. They’ve already raised $75,000 and are hoping to close that final gap in the coming months.

To that end, The Spirituals are performing a fundraising concert at Bethel AME Church on Feb. 9 at 3 p.m. The concert is free and open to all, and attendees can donate to the students’ trip while there. The group will perform spiritual standards, gospel, classical and some secular works for a diverse mix.

Tyrone Sutton, head of school at Boston Arts Academy, created The Spirituals in 2009 when he was a humanities teacher. Michael W. Bradley, music department chair, has been running the group for the last five years. The group’s foundation is in performing Negro spirituals, but Bradley has expanded the repertoire.

“After the pandemic, I expanded our repertoire to include all composers from the African diaspora. So, we’ll do Negro spirituals, we’ll do secular and sacred pieces by Black composers,” Bradley said.

He points to a composition by Jasmine Barnes called “Sometimes I Cry” as an example. Tupac Shakur wrote the lyrics and Barnes incorporated them into a choral composition. Works like that blend genres and highlight Black artistry of all kinds. Bradley says The Spirituals will perform that piece during the Carnegie Hall concert.

“Oftentimes Black composers are called in February for Black History Month, maybe for Christmas, when you want to do something a little gospely, right?” said Bradley. “But there are so many voices in classical music that don’t get the recognition that they deserve.”

Junior Nathaniel Codio is a baritone in The Spirituals. He is also the student operations manager, keeping the group organized, and recently participated in a program at the Boston University Tanglewood Institute. Codio saw the group perform his freshman year at Boston Arts Academy and knew immediately he wanted to be on that stage.

“This music specifically just moves your soul,” said Codio. “I can hear the freedom and the power in the music. I can hear the resilience in the music.”

Codio says he looks forward to the networking and experience of the Carnegie Hall performance. But the group isn’t just about accolades. He emphasizes that The Spirituals are also a tight-knit emotional support system.

“We fight like a family, but we love like a family as well,” said Codio. “If there’s anyone I would turn to for anything, it would be The Spirituals.”

Fundraising is an important piece of the equation, creating opportunities for these young musicians, but Bradley says it’s not the only purpose of the Feb. 9 performance. Community is at the core of the group’s work and being in community with others, celebrating the Black music tradition is the most important element of the concert.

“Whether we raise the money that day or not, it’s another opportunity for us to celebrate the making of great music through this tradition of song that has been so vital to African Americans for hundreds of years,” he said. “It’s who we are as a people, it’s who we are as a culture.”

ON THE WEB

Learn more about the fundraiser at bostonartsacademy.org/event