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Celebration of African-American music is Feb. 22 (2-13-04) "Sing a New Song: The Evolution of Black Sacred Music" is the theme of the 13th annual African-American Music Celebration to be held at 3 p.m., Sunday, Feb. 22, at the Piedmont College Center for Worship and Music in Demorest. This year's celebration will feature choirs and singers from several northeast Georgia churches and the featured soloist will be gospel-recording artist Zeke Turner of Athens. Dr. Audrey Rosser Milo, chairman of the Alliance for African American Music, which sponsors the concert, said this year's celebration will include songs spanning each century during the past 500 years. The music will highlight the changes from early African spirituals, through the shaped-note singing of the 1700s, to the contemporary gospel music of today. "People can come get a history lesson and also enjoy the music," she said. Admission to the concert is free, and there will be an offering collected for the Lachicotte-Strickland Scholarship, which the organization sponsors for minority students majoring in music at Piedmont College. Churches participating in the event include Shady Grove Baptist, Cornelia First Baptist, Cornelia United Methodist, Covenant Congregational, Israel CME, and Mt. Zion Baptist churches in Habersham County; and the Bean Creek and St. John Baptist churches in White County. Choirs also include the Piedmont Cantabile and the Habersham Central High School Choir. All singers will combine their voices in the United Choir, directed by the Rev. Vanessa Burns. Speakers and narrators include Milo, Sabrina Dorsey, Louise Bonadies, the Rev. Ashley Cook, Bill Loyd, the Rev. Greg Walton, Sarah Cook, Kendra Trimiar, the Rev. Vanessa Burns, and Dr. Barbara Steinhaus-Jordan, and the Rev. C. Wayne Smith. Prayers will be offered by the Rev. Dr. Ernest Burns, the Rev. Dena Smith, and the Rev. Wayne Smith. -30- |
Bardell
Summerhour of Shady Grove Baptist Church sings with the combined choir during
last year's African-American Music Celebration. 