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SINGING GOSPEL
 FEELING THE SPIRIT: Lessie Williams teaches the Eastern Oregon University Chamber Choir and the Harriet Tubman Middle School choir gospel tunes at Tubman in April. (Submitted photo). The extraordinary Harriet Tubman Middle School Choir under the direction of Lessie Williams will be the featured guests for a performance at Eastern Oregon University Oct. 23-24. Derek McDuffy will accompany the choir as well as lead the gospel singing, which will be performed by all choirs combined including the renowned EOU Chamber Choir and the Grande Ronde Community Chorus. Williams and McDuffy first traveled to EOU back in 1996 with the Jefferson High School choir. That performance remains as one of the largest held at McKenzie Theatre. The size of the audience kept growing and growing, and finally all the doors were opened while people filled the lobby of Loso Hall just to listen, chamber choir director Peter Wordelman recalls. In selecting music for the current concert, Wordelman started by selecting music by the most famous famous arrangers, including William Dawson, Jester Hairston, William Grant Still and contemporary arranger Moses Hogan. Wordelman also selected new arrangements that have just been published in recent years. "This combination, along with the numerous solo performances that will be heard, should give the audience a good idea of how spiritual and gospel arrangements have changed throughout the last 80 years," Wordelman said. The concert is sponsored by Edward Jones, Lisa Mangum, Red Cross United Drug, and Dixie and Ed Lund. The Tubman Middle School students will spend three days in the region. They will be staying with host families from the Grande Ronde Community Chorus. They will also travel to Baker to visit the Oregon Trail Interpretive Center, sing in the Baker School District and visit a ranch. |
