The Statler Auditorium on campus will host Cornell University's 26th Festival of Black Gospel celebration Friday, Feb. 15, through Sunday, Feb. 17.

Featured artists for Friday's opening event are Deitrick Haddon and the Voices of Unity, from Detroit; Sisters and Brothers, from Brooklyn; and the a cappella group Touch from Pompano Beach, Fla.

Concerts will be held Friday and Saturday, Feb. 15 and 16, at 7 p.m. Tickets are required for the Friday evening concert only. The fee is $8 general admission/$5 for those with a student ID. Saturday and Sunday events are free and open to the public.

The public is invited to join a free mass choir performance from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday Feb. 16 in Statler Auditorium. The mass choir, directed by Cleophilus Robinson Jr. of St. Louis, also will be joined by other regional gospel groups, and visitors are welcome to share their voices. Saturday night Gospel Explosion performers will include the John Hopkins Gospel Choir from Baltimore; CornerStone House of Refuge Apostolic Church from Ottawa, Ontario; The Black Celestial Choral Ensemble from Syracuse; and New Heights Phase 2 from Ithaca, among other ensembles. A free closing service will be held Sunday at 5 p.m. in the Willard Straight Hall Memorial Room with guest speaker the Rev. Hilliard Hudson from Pilgrim Baptist Church of South Chicago.

Advance sale tickets are available at the Willard Straight Hall ticket office, weekdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Ithaca Guitar Works in the DeWitt Mall in downtown Ithaca, (607) 272-2602; Alta Day Spa, 308 E. State Street, (607) 273-6818; and the Clinton House Box Office, 116 N. Cayuga Street, (607) 273-4497. Tickets also will be available at the Statler on Friday night.

The Festival of Black Gospel was established in 1976 by the Rev. Samuel Perry, former pastor of Ithaca's A.M.E. Zion Church, and the Rev. Jack Lewis, former director of Cornell United Religious Work. The event has been enthusiastically supported by diverse audiences ever since. FBG (for Festival of Black Gospel) is the name of the student-led organization that puts on the festival as part of its faith-based mission, which also includes visits to area youth correctional facilities and public schools.

For more information about the concert or FBG, contact Cherytta Nicole Hogan at (607) 253-6811, or the Rev. Sonya Hicks, FBG adviser, at (607) 255-0626.