In September Renata “Toni” Roy’s had one of her dreams become reality when a choir of 105 students representing dozens of the nation’s historically Black colleges and universities took the stage in front of a packed audience at the 2,500-seat John F. Kennedy Center concert hall in Washington, D.C.

Roy’s idea for the “105 Voices of History” concert began developing four years ago during her days as special assistant for private sector partnerships for the White House Initiative on Historically Black Colleges and Universities.

Roy, whose son and daughter are graduates of Dillard and Hampton universities, began to think about the role HBCU choirs traditionally have had in growing and promoting the institutions.

“Music is the legacy of our schools,” says Roy, who formed the choir and concert under her nonprofit, Partners Achieving Success. “That was the foundation. That’s what helped build buildings. When you needed money, you got the money from the choir. I really want to make sure that they still utilize that resource.”

Fisk University, founded in 1866, began to expand after its choral ensemble of students, the Fisk Jubilee Singers, went on tour to raise funds for the school. With money raised in 1873, the year the group first performed in Europe, Fisk built Jubilee Hall, the school’s first permanent building.

Roy brought together a group of 19 partners including Aetna, the National Endowment for the Arts, the BET Foundation and Macy’s to provide the funding and services needed for the show to go on.

“My goal was to give one student from every HBCU the opportunity to perform on America’s most renowned cultural stage because we have earned that right,” Roy says.

“I also wanted to re-educate America,” says Roy, who discovered many corporate executives aren’t aware of the number of HBCUs. “Now everyone knows that there are 105 HBCUs.”

Roy plans two concerts each school year, one in the fall at the start of the initiative’s HBCU week and a second in February during HBCU presidents week. Students from 65 schools make up this year’s choir. Each summer students will have the opportunity to compete to become one of the choir’s 105 voices.