The Harlem Gospel Choir is an American
gospel
Gospel originally meant the Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words an ...
choir
A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which ...
based in
Harlem
Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street (Manhattan), 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and 110th Street (Manhattan), ...
,
New York
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* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
. It is one of the United States's most prominent gospel choirs.
The company comprises 40 members, ranging in age from 21 to 51. They have appeared on national television programs including ''
Good Morning America
''Good Morning America'' (often abbreviated as ''GMA'') is an American morning television program that is broadcast on ABC. It debuted on November 3, 1975, and first expanded to weekends with the debut of a Sunday edition on January 3, 1993. Th ...
'',
''Top Chef: New York'', ''
The Colbert Report
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'' and ''
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
''The Late Show with Stephen Colbert'' is an American late-night news and liberal political satire talk show hosted by Stephen Colbert, which premiered on September 8, 2015. Produced by Spartina Productions and CBS Studios, it is the second it ...
''. They have performed for
Pope John Paul II
Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...
and Presidents Carter and Obama. They have performed with
The Chieftains
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,
Diana Ross
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,
Whoopi Goldberg
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Harry Belafonte
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,
Danny Glover
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, the
Dixie Hummingbirds
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Jimmy Cliff
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Lyle Lovett
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,
Lisa Marie Presley
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Bono
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,
André Rieu
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and his Johann Strauss Orchestra,
Jessica Simpson
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,
Josh Groban
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,
Trace Adkins
Trace may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Music
* ''Trace'' (Son Volt album), 1995
* ''Trace'' (Died Pretty album), 1993
* Trace (band), a Dutch progressive rock band
* ''The Trace'' (album)
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* ''Trace'' ...
,
American Authors
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Nile Rodgers
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Judy Collins
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Achille Lauro and
Volbeat
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.
The group was founded on
Martin Luther King Jr.
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's birthday, in 1986 (January 15, 1986) by Allen Bailey. See
London Jazz Fest News
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The Harlem Gospel Choir tours the world annually. It was the first American gospel choir to perform in Australia, New Zealand, China, Russia, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Czech Republic, Serbia, Slovenia, Slovakia, Samoa, Thailand, Burma and Morocco. Because of the strong demand for the choir to tour internationally, the choir forms two international touring companies to travel to Europe each winter, and maintains a New York based company year round.
The company comprises 40 of the best singers and musicians from Harlem and the New York Tri-State area. It is not a mass choir, and travels with nine singers and two musicians (keyboards and drums). It has toured the world, logging over two million travel miles. They have performed on major world stages including Lincoln Center, Royal Festival Hall, Carnegie Hall, Yankee Stadium, Arthur Ash Stadium, National Concert Hall (Dublin), the Sydney Opera House, Goungzhou Opera House, and Auditorium Parco della Musica (Rome).
They perform every Sunday at Sony Hall in New York for a gospel brunch, and were previously resident at BB King Blues Club for 17 years. Maintaining strong links with the New York City community they make annual appearances at the Children's Museum of Manhattan and Temple Shaaray Tefila in honor of Martin Luther King Day.
As part of their philosophy of giving something back the choir have partnered with Operation Smile, donating 100% of the proceeds from the sale of their charity wristband to this worthy cause.
References
External links
Harlem Gospel Choir official site
{{Authority control
American gospel musical groups
Harlem
Musical groups established in 1986
African-American musical groups