Above: An acclaimed gospel choir will give a “spirited performance” in a public concert at Pilgrim Church in ten days. (images cropped from a flyer)
A week from Sunday, Southborough’s Pilgrim Church will be “Celebrating Gospel Music”. The public is invited to join them for a concert featuring “an internationally acclaimed Gospel Choir”.
The choir Joyful Voices of Inspiration (JVOI) will perform along with the church’s own choir. The concert is free to attend, but a $10 donation is encouraged.
Pilgrim promises “a spirited performance” and promotes:
Gospel music is both a powerful inspirational medium and a uniquely American art form. The choir’s mission as a traveling choir is to share their inspiring gospel music with others.
The Gospel Concert will be held on Sunday April 27th at 3:00 pm in the church at 15 Common Street. Light refreshments will be offered following the concert.
Last summer, JVOI shared a clip on Facebook that featured a solo by a member from Southborough, David Joyner:
Pilgrim’s concert announcement shared more details about JVOI and Director Donnell Patterson:
JVOI has toured domestically throughout New England, New Orleans and Puerto Rico. International tours have included Italy, France, Ireland, Holland, Costa Rica, Uruguay, Argentina, Barcelona, Germany, Greece, and Portugal. The choir is thrilled to return to Brazil this summer for a second time since first visiting in 2006! . . .
Donell Patterson is well known throughout the Boston music community, and world renowned as a dynamic choral leader. He serves as the Music Director at Belmont Hill School, is Co-Founder of the New England Conservatory Millennium Gospel Choir, and Director of SANS (Sharing a New Song) Chorus. He has also served as the Chair of the Gospel Music Department at New England Conservatory (NEC), Director of the NEC Gospel Choir, Program Director of the Roland Hayes School of Music in the Boston Public Schools, Music Educator in the Cambridge MA Public Schools, and as Minister of Music at St. Paul’s AME Church in Cambridge MA for over 30 years
You can learn more about the choir here.
The announcement also shared info on Pilgrim’s Choir Director:
Monia Corey, a collaborative pianist from Bolton, MA, serves as the Director of Music at Pilgrim Congregational Church in Southborough and is also a bell ringer with the Pilgrim Church Bell Choir. She is also the program manager at Joy of Music in Worcester. Upcoming performances include five senior recitals at JOMP, singing with the All Choir Director’s Chorus in NYC’s Carnegie Hall in June for the In Harmony residency with Choirs of America, and ringing with the Pilgrim Church Bell Choir in a benefit concert in the fall.
She has a Graduate Performance Diploma in Vocal Accompanying at the Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University, a Masters in Collaborative Piano from the Longy School of Music of Bard College and a Bachelors in Piano Performance from West Chester University of Pennsylvania.
