The University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Gospel Choir will travel to Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas and south Alabama March 19-24 for its 2013 spring tour.
The choir will perform at churches in Chatom, Ala., Killeen/Fort Hood and San Antonio, New Orleans and Hattiesburg. In addition to performing, the choir will promote its current single, “You Don’t Know What I Could Have Been,” written last year in honor of the four girls killed in the bombing of Birmingham’s 16th Street Baptist Church in 1963. The choir will commemorate the 50th anniversary of the U.S. Civil Rights Movement, especially events that occurred in Birmingham. The bus trip is self-funded, and this is the choir’s seventh year in a row touring, in its more than 17-year history.
The UAB Gospel Choir’s new CD, “Nu-Soul City,” will be released locally at its spring concert, scheduled for 7 p.m. Monday, April 22, at UAB’s Alys Stephens Performing Arts Center. Featuring a neo-soul style, the concert will introduce the new UAB Gospel Youth Choir composed of performers ages 12-18. The concert will open with a musical tribute honoring the Civil Rights Movement anniversary. Tickets are $7 for the general public and $6 for UAB students and employees with a valid UAB ID.
The new CD will be available for $12 each, or two for $20, before and after the concert. Cash, checks and credit cards will be accepted. The CD will be released nationally on April 23, and it will be available for purchase on iTunes, Amazon, Google Music and other online retailers.
Members of the UAB Gospel Choir will travel to the U.S. Virgin Islands and St. Thomas for a self-funded tour May 16-20, 2013. The choir is currently accepting engagements at schools and churches for the tour, said Gospel Choir Director Kevin P. Turner, D.D.
“We want to share our love of American gospel music in this region, celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Civil Rights Movement with the world and promote our new CD release,” Turner said. “We are also seeking opportunities to share cultures, so we can bring things back to our campus.” For more details, contact Turner at 205-934-6155 or at kturner@uab.edu. The UAB Gospel Choir is part of the UAB Department of Music.