Festival of Black Gospel is this weekend, Feb. 20-22

Keith "Wonderboy" Johnson

By Franklin Crawford

Keith "Wonderboy" Johnson and the Spiritual Voices out of New York City will headline the 28th annual Festival of Black Gospel at Cornell, Saturday, Feb. 21, at 7 p.m. in Anabel Taylor Auditorium on campus. Admission for the performance is $4.

Advance sale tickets are available at the ticket office at Willard Straight Hall on campus and at the Clinton House box office (273-4497) in downtown Ithaca.

Saturday's concert is just one of the features of this year's festival -- Friday, Feb. 20, to Sunday, Feb. 22 -- which include a three-on-three basketball tournament, the concert by the featured artists, and the annual Mass Choir and Sunday service.

The festival, a centerpiece of Black History Month at Cornell, tips-off at 9 p.m. Friday with a program called "Hoops, Hip-Hop and Jesus." The program features a three-on-three basketball tournament in Helen Newman Hall, followed by a party called "Club Jehovah" in the Robert Purcell Community Center's Multi-Purpose Room on North Campus. Total admission for both events is $4 at the door.

On Saturday, a rehearsal for the Mass Choir, under the direction of Maureen Wilson of Mount Vernon, N.Y., will be held in Anabel Taylor Hall auditorium from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. The choir will perform during the Sunday service at 4 p.m. in the Willard Straight Hall Memorial Room, with the Rev. Joan Simms of Amityville, N.Y., presiding.

"We are trying to assemble a Mass Choir of 300 voices," said the Rev. Sonya Hicks, Festival of Black Gospel adviser. "So we are strongly encouraging choir members from all the area churches, as well as the general public, to come on out and join us."

Saturday night's featured artist, Keith "Wonderboy" Johnson, is credited with ushering in a renewed interest in traditional gospel quartet music for younger audiences. In 1998, he rose to the top of the gospel charts with the Spiritual Voices with the release of "Through The Storm," the group's critically acclaimed first CD. They have gone on to record several more award-winning recordings, including "Live and Alive," "Tribute to Quartet Legends, Vol. 1" and their recent "Greatest Hits" CD.

The Festival of Black Gospel is a Cornell student-led organization established in 1976 that presents the festival as part of its faith-based mission.