Beginning today, the soul uplifting sounds and spirit of gospel music will grace Seattle Pacific University as part of GospelFest10: A Celebration of the Gospel Music Legacy. Three days of an educational symposium, rehearsals and a dinner culminate Saturday night in a mass gospel choir concert – proving that there is so much more to Seattle than alt-indie-pop.
For $10 a person, the symposium at the First Free Methodist Church adjacent to the SPU campus features workshops and sessions in the history, literature, and ministry of the Gospel music tradition, as presented by some of the genre’s pre-eminent practitioners and scholars, including Robert Darden, an associate professor of journalism at Baylor University and author of “People Get Ready! A New History of Black Gospel Music,” (which is the subject of one of the symposium’s clinics).
Saturday’s concert will be held from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. in SPU’s Royal Brougham Pavilion, 3414 Third Ave West. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. Admission is $5 per person. Free parking is available in the Nickerson, Ross, and West Dravus street parking lots. The event is wheelchair accessible. For more information, call 206-281-2966 or visit the GospelFest10 website.
The audience will be in for a real treat as they bear witness to some of the region’s finest gospel choirs, including JudahSong, SureHouse, The Sound of the Northwest, SPU’s gospel choir, and gospel choirs from Antioch Bible Church and University Presbyterian Church. If the memory of these stirring voices isn’t enough, a souvenir booklet will also be available for purchase.