After months of planning and hours of rehearsal by our friends in the Heavenly Voices Gospel Choir, our Voices & Vinyl concert was held on Thursday, December 3rd in the Moody Memorial Library Allbritton foyer.
It was, to be perfectly frank, a complete success from our point of view.
A sizable crowd of students, faculty, staff and passers-through filled the lobby as the performance began. As the choir members’ voices began their harmonious blending, more and more curious onlookers stopped to take in the sights and sounds of the day’s events.
The program for V&V 2015 featured four remixed versions of songs from the Black Gospel Music Restoration Project:
> Joy To The World, inspired by the 1988 cast performance of Black Nativity
> Swing Low Sweet Chariot, inspired by the 1958 recording by The Ward Sisters
> The Little Drummer Boy, inspired by the 1987 recording by Cleophus Robinson
> Blessed Assurance, inspired by the 1960 recording by The Caravans
Here is a short overview of the day’s proceedings in video form:
Voices & Vinyl Videos
These videos contain footage, raw audio and photographs recorded during Voices & Vinyl, as well as clips of the original songs from the Black Gospel Music Restoration Project that inspired the Heavenly Voices’ performance.
Voices and Vinyl 2015 In Pictures
Click photos to enlarge
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- Heavenly Voices director Christian Broussard addresses the crowd
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- The performance is underway
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- Broussard discusses the group’s approach to gospel music
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- The crowd in Allbritton foyer
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- Prof. Robert Darden, public face of the Black Gospel Music Restoration Project, looks on in appreciation
The success of this inaugural outing of Voices & Vinyl will hopefully lead to further collaborations between the Digital Projects Group and the Heavenly Voices Gospel Choir, as well as other student groups interested in using the Black Gospel Music Restoration Project as a springboard for inspiration and new scholarship.
We want to thank the members of Heavenly Voices, the folks at ITS/Libraries Marketing and everyone who had a hand in spreading the word about V&V. And thanks to all of you, our blog readers, for your support in this exciting new event. We hope to be writing about VandV for years to come right here at the DPG blog!