FREE GOSPEL SUNDAYS RETURNS FOR 2009-2010 SEASON WITH FOUR UPLIFTING CONCERTS FEATURING GOSPEL SENSATIONS CECE WINANS, RICHARD SMALLWOOD, THE CANTON SPIRITUALS & VANESSA BELL ARMSTRONG
Miami-Dade local church choirs join gospel stars on stage in a community-wide celebration of century-old musical genre Documentary film project inspired by the series to premiere.
FREE ADMISSION
MIAMI, FL September 28, 2009 – The Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County, in partnership with Miami gospel radio station WMBM 1490 AM and Jubilate, Inc., proudly announce the return of FREE GOSPEL SUNDAYS for an exciting third season! The FREE four-part concert series pairs gospel music’s top recording artists – CECE WINANS, RICHARD SMALLWOOD, THE CANTON SPIRITUALS, AND VANESSA BELL ARMSTRONG – with Miami-Dade’s best and brightest choirs on the John S. and James L. Knight Concert Hall stage for an afternoon of uplifting music.
“Last season, we welcomed more than 4,000 patrons to experience Free Gospel Sundays,” said M. John Richard, president and CEO of the Adrienne Arsht Center. “We are thrilled to bring together the entire community – performers and audiences alike – for an afternoon of inspirational live music with the support of all involved for an exciting third year.”
FREE GOSPEL SUNDAYS was awarded a $100,000 Knight Arts Challenge grant from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation for the 2008-2009 season and is a finalist once again for the 2009-2010 series. The Knight Arts Challenge is a community-wide contest to fund the best art ideas in South Florida. By supporting this series, Knight Foundation continues to challenge South Florida to create and invest in the arts in Miami and helps transform South Florida by bringing the community together through the arts.
In addition, the Adrienne Arsht Center’s FREE GOSPEL SUNDAYS has inspired a documentary film project currently in development. The film, titled “Sunday’s Best,” highlights the cherished African-American custom of wearing extraordinary hats to church services on Sundays. Knight Foundation has commissioned two local filmmakers to document the rich tradition within Miami’s own fashionably faithful black community. The documentary will incorporate interviews, vintage and contemporary photography and as well as local gospel music. This documentary is the first film inspired by an Adrienne Arsht Center-presented program and will premiere during this season’s first Free Gospel Sundays concert on October 18.
The participating choirs are also in for a treat as they will be taking part in workshops with the featured headlining artists to prepare before each show.
The lineup for FREE GOSPEL SUNDAYS is as follows:
Adrienne Arsht Center presents FREE GOSPEL SUNDAYS CECE WINANS with
Cooper Temple Church of God in Christ Choir
October 18, 2009
John S. and James L. Knight Concert Hall @ 4 p.m.One of the most popular and influential, artists working in contemporary gospel music, Cece Winans headlines the first FREE GOSPEL SUNDAYS of the 2009-2010 season. Originally known primarily as a member of one of gospel music’s most prominent families—or as half of the award-winning duo with her brother BeBe Winans, CeCe has developed her own critical and popular following, earning seven Grammy Awards, 20 Dove Awards, and numerous other accolades. Joining her for this season premiere concert will be the Free Gospel Sundays Mass Choir and Miami Gardens-based choir from Cooper Temple Church of God in Christ, which will be releasing a new album “The Upper Room,” on October 18th.
Adrienne Arsht Center presents FREE GOSPEL SUNDAYS RICHARD SMALLWOOD with
Bethel Full Gospel Baptist Church Choir
December 6, 2009
John S. and James L. Knight Concert Hall @ 4 p.m.
Richard Smallwood is a Grammy® Award and Stellar award-winning gospel legend. A Gospel Music Hall of Fame inductee with a career spanning more than 25 years, Smallwood is best known for hit songs such as “My Everything” and “I’ll Trust You.” Bethel Full Gospel Baptist Church Choir of Richmond Heights and the Free Gospel Sundays Mass Choir will proudly join Smallwood for this joyous Christmas celebration.
Adrienne Arsht Center presents FREE GOSPEL SUNDAYS
THE CANTON SPIRITUALS with
Mount Tabor Full Gospel Baptist Church Choir
February 21, 2010
John S. and James L. Knight Concert Hall @ 4 p.m.
Founded in 1943, The Canton Spirituals are the pioneers of traditional gospel music. Considered by many as gospel music’s number one quartet, The Canton Spirituals have released many hit albums including “Live in Memphis” and “Living the Dream: Live in Washington, DC.” Joining the famous group will be the Miami-based Mount Tabor Missionary Baptist Church Choir and the Free Gospel Sundays Mass Choir for a special Black History Month concert.
Adrienne Arsht Center presents FREE GOSPEL SUNDAYS VANESSA BELL ARMSTRONG with
New Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church Choir
April 18, 2010
John S. and James L. Knight Concert Hall @ 4 p.m.
Vanessa Bell Armstrong is a seven-time Grammy®-nominated gospel singer whose hits have climbed the U.S. Billboard charts during her more than 20 years in the business. Her next album “The Experience,” an awe-inspiring compilation of live- recorded gospel tunes, will be released October 6th. Miami’s own New Shiloh Missionary Church and the Free Gospel Sundays Mass Choir will join Armstrong for this final Free Gospel Sundays concert of the 2009-2010 season.
TICKET RESERVATIONS
Admission is FREE. Free tickets can be reserved in advance through the Adrienne Arsht Center box office at 305.949.6722 or online at www.arshtcenter.org. Tickets will also be available on performance days in the Knight Concert Hall starting at 12 p.m. (subject to availability).
Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County is made possible by the public support of the Miami-Dade County Mayor and the Board of County Commissioners, Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs and the Cultural Affairs Council, and Miami-Dade County Tourist Development Council. Education & Outreach is funded in part by The Children’s Trust. The Adrienne Arsht Center also receives generous support from private contributions to the Adrienne Arsht Center Foundation, Inc., through its Visionary Society membership program and its Encore Circle major gifts program; City of Miami Omni Community Redevelopment Agency; American Express Company; Arison Arts Foundation; Dade Community Foundation; the State of Florida, Department of State, Division of Cultural Affairs and the Florida Arts Council; the National Endowment for the Arts, and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.
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About the Adrienne Arsht Center for Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County
The Adrienne Arsht Center for Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County is Miami-Dade County’s largest ever public/private-sector partnership, comprised of an $150 million private capital campaign conducted by the Performing Arts Center Foundation and public funding drawn primarily from the County’s Convention Development Tax revenues, as well as the City of Miami Omni Redevelopment District Community Redevelopment Agency. Greatly enhancing the artistic and educational opportunities in South Florida, the Adrienne Arsht Center will have significant and long-term economic benefits for the city and the region.
The Adrienne Arsht Center, designed by world-renowned architect Cesar Pelli of Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects, includes the 2,400-seat Sanford and Dolores Ziff Ballet Opera House, the 2,200-seat John S. and James L. Knight Concert Hall, a 200-seat black box Carnival Studio Theater, the Peacock Education Center, a restored Carnival Art Deco Tower, and the Parker and Vann Thomson Plaza for the Arts, which unites the Center buildings across Biscayne Boulevard, providing a magnificent setting for outdoor entertainment and informal gatherings. The key members of the design team include theater planning and design consultant Joshua Dachs of Fisher Dachs Associates, Inc. and acoustician Russell Johnson of ARTEC, Inc., both of whom worked on the project since its inception.
The Adrienne Arsht Center is a Miami venue not only for its three resident companies (Florida Grand Opera, Miami City Ballet, and New World Symphony), but also for many smaller South Florida arts organizations that will perform in its theaters on a regular basis, as well as for the finest popular and classical performances from around the world. With state-of-the-art performance facilities in Miami for the first time, the Adrienne Arsht Center offers South Florida audiences the best and most diverse theater, music, and dance—with a dedication to entertain, challenge, and educate all segments of the community. For more information, visit www.arshtcenter.org.
About GOSPEL AM 1490 WMBM
GOSPEL AM 1490 WMBM, a media pillar in the community, serves South Florida and the world via the Internet with up-to-the minute news, empowering talk shows, all genres of inspirational, edifying and encouraging gospel music, rap and spoken word and so much more. Since the 1995 purchase of AM 1490 WMBM by New Birth Broadcasting Corporation, (NBBC), under the leadership of Bishop Victor T. Curry, President/GM, the landscape of Gospel Radio has changed. With a coverage map of over 1,500,000 homes and businesses, WMBM is one of the first radio stations to stream its broadcast via the Internet.
WMBM has been featured in Ebony Magazine, Inside Gospel, Gospel Today, Gospel USA, Saved Magazine, and more. Rated the number one traditional gospel station in the nation by the religious and media quarterly publications, WMBM has received national and international recognition through correspondence and communication via the internet. Most recently, WMBM received the highest honor in the gospel industry as the prestigious 2007 stellar award radio station of the year in a large market. For more information regarding GOSPEL AM 1490 WMBM, call 305.769.1100 or logon to www.wmbm.com.
About Jubilate, Inc.
Sixteen years ago, Dr. Nelson Hall organized a dedicated group of professional musicians to present a program that would celebrate our great-diverse community and its’ rich mixture of culture and history. The organization, Jubilate, would combine the timeless harmonies of spirituals, with the musical grace and grandeur of the Classical Symphonies and the lush natural beauty of jazz. Within a short period of time they would be invited to share the stage and collaborate with a wide array of award wining musicians including, The Three Tenors, Placido Domingo, Nestor Torres, Andre Crouch, Bobby McFerrin and Richard Smallwood. They would call themselves, Jubilate. James Roos, of the Miami Herald proclaimed Jubilate, “Exuberant”. Leonard Pitts Jr., syndicated columnist wrote, “Jubilate voice to the faith and hope to the Negro Spirituals. The purity and truth of it will shiver your spine.” This season Jubilate will embark on their fifth annual European tour, presenting 22 performances in Spain, Portugal and Italy.
About John S. and James L. Knight Foundation
The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation advances journalism in the digital age and invests in the vitality of communities where the Knight brothers owned newspapers. Knight Foundation focuses on projects that promote community engagement and lead to transformational change. For more, visit www.knightfoundation.org