WPAS Men, Women, and Children of the Gospel Choir

Washington Performing Arts Society's Men, Women, and Children of the Gospel ChoirSince the early 1990's, WPAS Men, Women, and Children of the Gospel Choir has been showcasing uniquely talented voices from the of DC Metropolitan area in annual concerts at Kennedy Center and other venues, sharing their appreciation for traditional through contemporary gospel music, distinctive high energy performances, while offering a glimpse of their versatility and technique in other genres of music. The combined choir of approximately 200 voices has shared the stage with many noted artists (such as Sweet Honey in the Rock, Kathleen Battle, Kiri Te Kanawa, Step Afrika!, Ramsey Lewis, and gospel greats as Dottie Peoples, Richard Smallwood, Myrna Summers, Dorinda Clark Cole and others. The choir has also worked and trained under some of the area’s noted local and national choral directors and music professionals.Some recent performance highlights include our WPAS Children of the Gospel Choir’s recent appearance at the National Prayer Service for President Barack Obama on January 21, 2009 at the National Cathedral, Welcome to Washington Event at the Harman Center, and featured appearances on NBC Today Show, featured appearance with Sweet Honey in the Rock at Carnegie Hall, at the Helen Hayes Awards Gala, Kennedy Center Millennium Stage, D.C.

Washington Performing Arts Society's Men, Women, and Children of the Gospel Choir

Since the early 1990's, WPAS Men, Women, and Children of the Gospel Choir has been showcasing uniquely talented voices from the of DC Metropolitan area in annual concerts at Kennedy Center and other venues, sharing their appreciation for traditional through contemporary gospel music, distinctive high energy performances, while offering a glimpse of their versatility and technique in other genres of music. The combined choir of approximately 200 voices has shared the stage with many noted artists (such as Sweet Honey in the Rock, Kathleen Battle, Kiri Te Kanawa, Step Afrika!, Ramsey Lewis, and gospel greats as Dottie Peoples, Richard Smallwood, Myrna Summers, Dorinda Clark Cole and others. The choir has also worked and trained under some of the area’s noted local and national choral directors and music professionals.

Some recent performance highlights include our WPAS Children of the Gospel Choir’s recent appearance at the National Prayer Service for President Barack Obama on January 21, 2009 at the National Cathedral, Welcome to Washington Event at the Harman Center, and featured appearances on NBC Today Show, featured appearance with Sweet Honey in the Rock at Carnegie Hall, at the Helen Hayes Awards Gala, Kennedy Center Millennium Stage, D.C. Mayors’ Arts Awards, Grand opening GALA at the Harman Center featured with Wynton Marsalis and Jazz at Lincoln Center, The Ramsey lewis Trio and others.

Stanley J. Thurston, Artistic Director of the WPAS’ Gospel Choirs, has received acclaim for his direction from music critics such as Washington Post’s Cecelia Porter, as a "stellar performance" of the nearly 300-voice choir under his direction "...performed with one voice, with perfect ensemble, intonation and diction." Subsequent WPAS engagements this season have featured Thurston as conductor with such well-known artists as Soprano, Kathleen Battle; Sweet Honey in the Rock; Canadian Brass; jazz legends Ramsey Lewis and Wynton Marsalis. He has appeared as conductor in concert venues including Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center Concert Hall and Millennium Stage, the U.S. Capitol, Music Center at Strathmore, Carter Barron Amphitheater, DAR Constitution Hall, Arena Stage, Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center, Washington National Cathedral, and the Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall. Mr. Thurston is well known as a pianist, composer, and arranger. His orchestral arrangements have been performed by the symphony orchestras of Baltimore, New Jersey, and the National Symphony Orchestra. A graduate of The American Academy of Conducting at Aspen, Thurston made his European opera conducting debut in Giuseppe Verdi's La Traviata with Romania's Opera Constanta, returning in to conduct Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor the following season. He is the founding Music Director of The Heritage Signature Chorale and currently serves as the Director of Music at Foundry United Methodist Church, Washington, D.C.

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3/26/13: WPAS’s Gospel Choirs

Join the female voices (adults and children) in an interactive program that celebrates Women’s History Month.

WPAS’s Gospel Choirs

Join the female voices (adults and children) in an interactive program that celebrates Women’s History Month.

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12/12/09: WPAS Men, Women, and Children of the Gospel Choir

This gospel choir showcases uniquely talented voices from the DC Metropolitan area.

WPAS Men, Women, and Children of the Gospel Choir

This gospel choir showcases uniquely talented voices from the DC Metropolitan area.

Comment, rate, and more...

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WPAS Men, Women, and Children of the Gospel Choir

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