Haitian Mass Choir to headline 23rd Festival of Black Gospel at Cornell Feb. 19-21

Dickson Guillaume and the New York State Haitian Interdenominational Mass Choir are the featured artists for this year's 23rd annual Festival of Black Gospel at Cornell University. The festival, the centerpiece of the university's Black History Month celebration, will be held Feb. 19 to 21.

Guillaume and the Haitian Mass Choir will perform on the opening night, Friday, Feb. 19, at 7 p.m. in Bailey Hall. The festival also offers a twin opening bill, featuring gospel recording artist Kathy Myers and the energetic and inspirational Donna Ware.

Tickets are $8 for those with Cornell ID, $7 for people in groups of five or more and $10 for the general public. Advance sale tickets are available locally at the Willard Straight Hall ticket office, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Logo's Bookstore on the Ithaca Commons and at the Christian Vision Bookstore, 510 W. Clinton St. Tickets also will be available at the door on the night of the performance.

"This is the first year that so many talented, spirit-filled artists have been offered at the Friday night opening concert," said Alishia Green, a senior economics major at Cornell and the publicity chair for the festival. "I am honored to be a part of such a wonderful group, and organizers of the festival are very excited about the upcoming event," Green said.

The musical stylings of the Haitian Mass Choir embrace a range of influences, from Haitian folk songs to contemporary and traditional American gospel. Under the direction of Dickson Guillaume, their music is the vehicle for a passionate ministry that targets the needs of today's younger generation, Green said. A performance by the Haitian Mass Choir is an ecstatic celebration of hope and faith in which members deliver "truth-telling testimonies" with contagious enthusiasm and humor.

Guillaume wrote and arranged several songs on God Is Able, the 8-year-old choir's much anticipated first CD. A percussionist and self-taught pianist, Guillaume is the son of a Baptist preacher. In addition to creating music, Guilluame and choir members have developed several programs for pregnant teens, the homeless and the disenfranchised.

Gospel artist Kathy Myers' third recording project, It's Harvest Time, follows two successful CDs, A Safe Place and Faith. An accomplished pianist and operatic contralto, she has graced the stage with Shirley Caesar, Sandi Patti and the Mighty Clouds of Joy, among others. Myers is music director of the Full Gospel A.M.E. Zion Church in Temple Hills, Md.

Singer-pianist Donna Ware hails from Memphis, Tenn., and has served as director and performer in numerous theatrical, religious, educational and professional groups and currently is working on her own CD.

These artists join an illustrious procession of past performers who have appeared at the Festival of Black Gospel, among them: Richard Smallwood, Hezekiah Walker, Yolanda Adams, Witness, Shirley Caesar, John P. Kee, Vicki Winans and the Clark Sisters.

The festival continues Saturday, Feb. 20, with a Mass Choir Workshop at 10 a.m. in Bailey Hall, followed by a free "Gospel Explosion" at 7 p.m., with choirs from Cornell, Ithaca and the Northeast region going full tilt under the direction of Guillaume and the Mass Choir.

The festival concludes Sunday, Feb. 21, at 5:30 p.m. with a worship service in Anabel Taylor Chapel. The guest speaker, Roxanne Ryan, a 1998 Cornell alumnus, served as chair for the festival in 1996, when it was awarded Cornell's Perkins Prize for Interracial Understanding and Harmony; and Ryan served again as chair in 1997.

For the past 23 years, the Festival of Black Gospel has utilized gospel music as a medium for bringing people together while sharing a unique thread in the fabric of African-American culture. Festival of Black Gospel members are active as volunteers in various organizations throughout the Ithaca area, and its Next Step program brings Ithaca area high school students to the Cornell campus for a day of college awareness. The group also presents programs to troubled youth in area facilities such as the MacCormick Detention Center and Lansing Home for Girls.

Festival sponsors include Cornell United Religious Work, Student Assembly Finance Committee, Minority Finance Committee, Africana Latino Asian Native American Program Board, Cornell Office of Minority Educational Affairs, Cornell Concert Commission, Cornell University Program Board, Class Councils, St. James A.M.E. Zion Church, Presbyterian Church Cooperative, Calvary Baptist Church, the ABC Cafe and McNeil Music, among others. For more information, call Alishia Green at (607) 253-0366, or e-mail alg11@cornell.edu.

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