Witness, a Grammy-nominated singing quartet, will headline the 21st Annual Festival of Black Gospel at Cornell University, Feb. 21 to 23. The festival is the centerpiece of the university's Black History Month celebration.

Witness will perform Friday, Feb. 21, at 7 p.m. in Bailey Hall. Also performing will be the group Elder Jae Nixon and Dunamis. Doors open at 6 p.m. Advanced sale tickets are $10; $7 for ages 6 to 18; free for children under 5. Tickets are available at the Willard Straight Hall Box Office; Rebop Records, 409 College Ave.; and Logos Bookstore on the Ithaca Commons. Tickets are available at the door for $12. Discount rates are available for groups of 10 or more. For ticket information, contact the Festival of Black Gospel at (607) 255-0626.

Witness features the vocal talents of LouAnn McGowan, Diane Campbell and Lisa and Laeh Page. The group fuses the sounds of pop and rhythm and blues for a gospel sound all its own. Witness's latest release is, A Song in the Night.

The group released the first of its seven albums in 1986 and has received both Grammy and Dove award nominations as well as the 1993 Steller Award. Their hits "Old Landmark," "Standard," "We Give Thanks" and "Just as You Are" are mainstays of gospel radio playlists. All of their hits were penned by their producer, Michael Brooks.

Since its inception, the group Elder Jae Nixon and Dunamis has sung with some of gospel music's finest artists, including Hezekiah Walker and Yolanda Adams, former Cornell gospel festival headliners. The group recorded its debut album "I'm A Witness, He'll Make It Alright" on the Savoy label in 1994.

The Festival of Black Gospel continues Saturday, Feb. 22, with the free performance of the Mass Choir at 7:30 p.m. in Bailey Hall. The Mass Choir comprises gospel choirs from across the northeastern United States. Rehearsals for the Mass Choir, which are open to public, begin at 10 a.m. in Bailey Hall. The Mass Choir will be directed by David Frazier, a member of Shekinah, a gospel singing group that performed at the Cornell gospel festival last year.

The Festival of Black Gospel concludes with a worship service Sunday, Feb. 23 at 4 p.m. in the Memorial Hall of Willard Straight Hall. Evangelist Carolyn D. Showell will be the featured speaker.

A licensed therapist and pastoral counselor who holds a doctorate in counseling psychology, Showell is founder of Transformed Inc., a private Christian counseling practice and support service. She also is a consultant to AT&T in the area of racism and cultural diversity and a curriculum developer and coordinator for the Johns Hopkins University School of Business Administration. Showell is an ordained minister in the Pentecostal Assemblies of the World.

Shuttle buses to the Witness and Mass Choir performances will be available. On Feb. 21 and 22, buses to Bailey Hall will depart at 6:30 p.m. from the Southside Community Center , 309 S. Plain St., and at 6:45 p.m. from GIAC, 318 N. Albany St. Buses will depart Bailey Hall to return to the center and GIAC at 11 p.m. Transportation is provided by Bethel Grove Bible Church.

Festival of Black Gospel sponsors include the Student Assembly Finance Commission, Cornell Concert Commission, Dean of Student's Office, Department of Theatre Arts, Africana Studies and Research Center, Ujamaa, Willard Straight Hall Program Board, Cornell Council for the Arts, Third World Student Program Board, Cornell University Program Board, Minority Finance Commission, Protestant Cooperative Ministry and the Episcopalian Church at Cornell.

The Festival of Black Gospel, a 20-year-old campus organization dedicated to strengthening ties between Cornell and the community through an annual weekend of gospel music and worship, was honored for its work with the 1996 Perkins Prize for Interracial Understanding and Harmony, which carries with it a $5,000 cash prize. Named for Cornell President Emeritus James A. Perkins, the award was established in 1995 by University Trustee Thomas W. Jones, president and chief operating officer of the Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association-College Retirement Equities Fund (TIAA-CREF), the world's largest pension fund.

Gospel festival committee members volunteer for various human service agencies, either locally or out of town, and many Cornell-related functions, including Big Brother, Summer Bridge Youth Program, NAACP, National Society of Black Engineers, University Career Center and Amnesty International.