Sunday night’s performance by Sweet Honey In The Rock was the final event in this season’s Lied Center Concert Series, and the series simply could not have ended better. The group drew a full house, and their performance of a capella jazz, blues and gospel music made it easy to see why.

The audience was more than happy to participate by clapping, praying or singing along in the spirit of the performers. The all-female quintet (plus sign language interpreter Shirley Childress Saxton) performed songs of joy and sorrow, including traditional African, spiritual and freedom songs and told the stories behind many of the songs.

But even if the group had not uttered a single spoken word during its two-hour show, the audience still would have been captivated. Six women seated in a semi-circle managed to engage the crowd with their musical performance.

Sweet Honey is celebrating its 30th year performing together, and the group should take pride in that. But even for the members’ history together is eclipsed by their pride and reverence for their collective ethnic history. Dressed in traditional African dress, the women celebrated the history of Africa and the dispersion of its people through songs such as “Where Are The Keys To The Kingdom?”

Though only a quintet, their five voices filled the Lied Center with multiple harmonies and inventive vocal improvisation. The group’s only backing was the occasional traditional African percussion instrument. The women used their voices to emulate sounds and rhythms from across the world.

Before “Sometimes I Feel Like A Motherless Child,” the group explained that the song was about feeling like a stranger. Songs like “Will You Give Me Harbor?” made the subjects behind the songs accessible to everyone, regardless of race, religion or sexual orientation.

— Aaron Passman is a Kansas University journalism student.