SUNY Cortland Gospel Choir Sets Spring Concert

CORTLAND, NY (04/18/2014)(readMedia)-- Robert Brown will direct his farewell concert when the SUNY Cortland Gospel Choir presents its annual Spring Concert on Sunday, April 27.

The performance will begin at 4 p.m. in Corey Union Function Room and will be followed by a dessert reception. The events are open to the public.

Tickets for the concert are $3 for students and $5 for general admission. Complimentary tickets also will be available if requested. All proceeds will support the Gospel Choir scholarship and programming funds.

The concert will focus on contemporary gospel and spirituals with an emphasis on songs that Brown has directed for the choir during the last decade.

Selections include "It's Done" by Anita Wilson, the spiritual "King Jesus is a Listenin'" and "Break Every Chain" by Tasha Cobbs and led by Karlene Anderson, and "Total Praise" by Richard Smallwood, with Deston Hudson as soloist; Hezekiah Walker's "Every Praise," Richard Smallwood's "Perfect Praise" and Kirk Franklin's "Melodies from Heaven."

The concert will include a medley of sacred selections featuring local pianist Dorothy Thomas '77 and a jazz set led by Syracuse singer Donna Alford with the Gospel Choir musicians.

A SUNY Cortland adjunct instructor in Africana Studies, Brown teaches music at Blodgett Elementary School in Syracuse, N.Y., and also serves as 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 and completed his Master of Science in Music Education at Syracuse University.

The program is sponsored by the SUNY Cortland Africana Studies Department, the Center for Gender and Intercultural Studies, the Alumni Affairs Office, the Cortland College Foundation, the Division of Student Affairs, the President's, Provost's and Vice President for Academic Affairs' offices and the student activity fee.

For more information, contact Distinguished Service Professor Samuel L. Kelley at 607-753-4104 or sam.kelley@cortland.edu or Distinguished Teaching Professor Seth Asumah at seth.asumah@cortland.edu or 607-753-2064.

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