Sounds Of Gospel Coming To Stonehill
November 07, 2012
The next installment of Stonehill's Nakamichi Concert Series will feature the 12th Baptist Church Gospel Ensemble and the Jonathan Singleton Trio. Titled "Soul Food," the concert will be held on Tuesday, November 13 at 8 p.m. in Alumni Hall. A reception will follow the concert, which is free and open to the public.
The Jonathan Singleton Trio features Jonathan Singleton on piano, Yusaku Yoshimura on bass, and Zeke Martin on drums. The program will contain a variety of Gospel songs, including "Walk in Jerusalem," a traditional spiritual arranged by Jonathan Singleton. The Trio will also perform the well known "People Get Ready" by Curtis Mayfield and "Precious Lord" by Thomas Dorsey.
Singleton is a member of the music staff of the historic 12th Baptist Church of Roxbury, where he directs several choral groups including the Youth Choir and the Gospel Ensemble. Additionally, he directs Northeastern University's J.D.O.A.A.I. Unity Gospel Ensemble and the Bunker Hill Community College Gospel Choir. Through these choral groups he seeks to preserve and present the rich variety of African-American cultural/musical expression.
Singleton began his musical career at the age of six when a student teacher offered him clarinet lessons. He continued playing clarinet through high school and college, studying with Karl Krelove, Lennart Olsen, and Andre Lizotte.
While a student at the Berklee College of Music in Boston he began playing piano, studying with Dean Earl and Lazlo Gardony. He graduated from Berklee in 1987 with a bachelor's degree in Music Production and Engineering. After graduating he continued his piano studies with Frank Wilkins.
Singleton is also currently musical director for Orpheus/EMI recording artist Andre Ward and for City Stage Co., a non-profit children's theater company that provides opportunities for urban children and families to participate in the performing arts in the neighborhoods where they live and work.
Twelfth Baptist Church is the oldest direct descendent of the African Baptist Church of Beacon Hill, organized in 1806. In the 1800s the Twelfth Baptist Church, situated on Beacon Hill, served as an anti-slavery meetinghouse and provided spiritual guidance to free blacks and fugitive slaves. It is now located in Roxbury.
Throughout its history, Twelfth Baptist Church has served as a forum for champions of human rights and dignity such as William Lloyd Garrison, Frederick Douglass, Rev. Leonard A. Grimes, Rev. George Washington Williams, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and others.
From the anti-slavery cause of the 1800's through the civil rights movement to the present day, Twelfth Baptist Church fostered a commitment to spiritual guidance and social action to the Greater Boston community.
The E. Nakamichi Foundation and Stonehill sponsor the Nakamichi Concert Series. The program is supported, in part, by a grant from the Easton Cultural Council, a local agency that is supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency.
Contact
For more information, contact Communications and Media Relations at 508-565-1321.