October 23, 2008

UAB Gospel Choir. Download image.

• CD/DVD on sale after concert

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Experience centuries of African-American music when the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Gospel Choir presents a "Gospel Anthology" concert at 7 p.m. Monday, Nov. 24, in the Alys Stephens Center's Jemison Concert Hall, 1200 10th Ave. S., Birmingham.

General admission tickets are $7; $5 for UAB students/employees with valid I.D. Tickets are on sale now or available at the door. Advance purchase is strongly recommended. Discounts are available for advance group ticket purchases. To purchase tickets, call the ASC Box Office at 205-975-2787 or the UAB Ticket Office at 205-934-8001. No video cameras; only non-flash cameras allowed at the concert. The first 100 people who enter the door at 6:30 p.m. will be eligible to win two tickets to see Mavis Staples in concert Feb. 14 at the Alys Stephens Center.

The UAB Gospel Choir, along with director Kevin P. Turner, celebrates its 13th anniversary by presenting their first ever "Gospel Anthology" concert in four acts. The evening will feature the 150-voice UAB Gospel Choir and Band and the Mime and Dance team, with the choreography of Christina Jones.

The first act takes the audience to the shores of West Africa and on the slave ships. Experience authentic African dance and hear the stories of the first Negro spirituals and field songs. The second act celebrates the "Golden Years" of American gospel music, with a cappella music, quartets and the music of gospel icons such as Mahalia Jackson, Edwin Hawkins, the Rev. James Cleveland, Charles Albert Tindley and John Wesley. The story of Thomas Dorsey, the modern day father of gospel music who composed "Precious Lord Take My Hand," will be performed with actors and singers.

In the third act, the choir will remember the Civil Rights Movement, share the story of James Weldon Johnson, composer of the Negro National Anthem "Lift Every Voice and Sing," and tell the story of Rosa Parks, with special guests Total Man Mime Ministries of 22nd Street Baptist Church. This part of the concert celebrates the classics such as "Be Grateful" by Walter Hawkins as well as Milton Brunson and the Thompson Community Singers. For the fourth act, the audience should put on their dancing shoes as the choir re-visits the 1970s and 1980s with a Detroit gospel review celebrating the music of the first families of gospel, The Clark Sisters and The Winans.

The UAB Gospel Choir also will recognize the contributions of three local artists, all pioneers of American gospel music: Evelyn Hardy, pianist for the male chorus at Sixth Avenue Baptist Church and one of two surviving members of the world-renowned Original Gospel Harmonettes; Cleo Kennedy, who sang with the Rev. James Cleveland; and Roscoe Robinson, who sold millions of records performing gospel and R&B music.

Immediately after the concert, next door on the first level of the UAB Hulsey Performing Arts Center, 950 13th St. S., concertgoers can purchase the UAB Gospel Choir's latest CD/DVD set, "Gospel 101: GO DOMINATE," also available at the Barnes & Noble @ UAB, Cdbaby.com, Amazon.com and iTunes. "Gospel Anthology" T-shirts will be available and a DVD recording of the concert may be purchased for $20. All DVDs will be mailed in December to arrive for Christmas.