Gospel Choir Plans Spring Concert on May 2

04/21/2010 

The SUNY Cortland Gospel Choir, under the direction of Robert Brown, will present contemporary and traditional gospel selections and spirituals during its 25th annual Spring Concert at 4 p.m. on Sunday, May 2, in Old Main Brown Auditorium.

Tickets for the event are $3 for students; $4 for faculty, staff and senior citizens; and $5 for general admission. Children under 12 are admitted free and complimentary tickets are available on a need basis. Proceeds support the Gospel Choir Scholarship and Programming Funds.

Marie Agen, campus minister at O’Heron Newman Hall, will offer the invocation.

Comprised of College, high school and community members, the Gospel Choir has been recognized for its outstanding performances at the National Collegiate Gospel Competition. Recently returned from their spring tour to Philadelphia, Pa., and New Castle, Del., the Gospel Choir will present contemporary and traditional gospel selections and popular American hymns.

Performances will include Cortland A Cappella, a recently formed group directed by Noelle Paley, interim director of multicultural life; the Gospel Choir Ensemble; Jamie Yaman on saxophone; and Dorothy Thomas ’77 on piano.

Musical offerings will include the classic “O Happy Day,” by Edwin Hawkins. Also new to the lineup will be “Let’s Dance,” by Lonnie Hunter.

Choir member Khalia Brown will present “His Eye Is On the Sparrow” and member Jason Carriero will perform “What a Friend We Have in Jesus.”

Cortland A Cappella will pay tribute to Steven Barnes, the late SUNY Cortland Africana Studies lecturer, with “Bridge Over Troubled Water,” and also will sing “Stand By Me” and “Amazing Grace.” The Gospel Choir Jazz Ensemble will perform “Spring Afternoon,” composed by Robert Brown.

Brown, a SUNY Cortland lecturer in Africana Studies and music teacher at Blodgett Elementary School in Syracuse, N.Y., is music director of the New Life Community Church. He has a Bachelor of Science in Music Education from the SUNY Potsdam Crane School of Music.

Choir musicians are: Andy Rudy on keyboard, Reginald Siegler on bass guitar and Benjamin Terry on percussion, all from Syracuse; and Jamie Yaman of Cortland.

Sponsored by the SUNY Cortland Africana Studies Department, the concert is also supported by the Center for Gender and Intercultural Studies, the Alumni Affairs Office, the Cortland College Foundation, the Division of Student Affairs, the President, Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs offices, and the student activity fee. For more information, contact Distinguished Service Professor Samuel L. Kelley or Distinguished Teaching Professor Seth Asumah at (607) 753-2064.