Westminster Jubilee Singers Honors Black History Month February 11
The evening of Saturday, February 11 will be filled with inspiration and joy as the Westminster Jubilee Singers present their Winter concert in Bristol Chapel on the campus of Westminster Choir College of Rider University in Princeton. In honor of Black History Month, the performance, beginning at 8 p.m., will feature the music for which this lively and popular ensemble has become known - music from the African-American experience: spirituals, hymns and gospel songs.
Conducted by J. Donald Dumpson, the Westminster Jubilee Singers have been praised by critics for their “pinpoint accuracy” and music making with “a fine sheen.” Highlights of their recent seasons include performing two Hannibal Lokumbe works with the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra: African Portraits, conducted by André Raphael Smith, and the world premiere of God, Mississippi, and a Man Called Evers, conducted by Leslie Dunner. In addition, the ensemble has performed at Carnegie Hall with the New York Pops Orchestra, under the baton of Skitch Henderson, in a concert version of Porgy and Bess.
The ensemble has also performed at the legendary Apollo Theater in New York as part of the Children’s Defense Fund’s 30th anniversary; presented a joint concert entitled “Living the Dream” with Penn State University’s Essence of Joy ensemble as a tribute to Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.; and made concert tours of New England and the Mid-Atlantic states.
Conductor J. Donald Dumpson is equally at home in the classroom, in the church and on the stage. A member of Westminster’s sacred music faculty, he is also minister of music at Bright Hope Baptist Church in Philadelphia and has taken the Bright Hope Celestial Choir from the church sanctuary to television and Broadway. In addition, he is president of the entertainment production company J. Donald Dumpson Productions. His talents as a master keyboardist, composer and arranger have led to collaborations with a wide array of musicians, ranging from Charles Dutoit and Bobby McFerrin to Cab Calloway and Patti LaBelle.
Mr. Dumpson has been artistic director of the Performers’ Workshop at the Community College of Philadelphia, director of the Concert Choir at the Philadelphia High School for the Creative and Performing Arts, and conductor of the Concert Choir at Cheyney University.
He has guest-conducted the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra and Chorus to critical acclaim, served as a member of the production team for the syndicated television special “An Evening of Stars,” assisted with the choral preparation of the Opera Company of Philadelphia’s June 2001 production of Porgy and Bess, and was co-producer for the national telecast of Black Entertainment Television’s First Annual African-American Sacred Music Festival.
Westminster Choir College is located at Hamilton Avenue and Walnut Lane in Princeton. Tickets are $15 for adults, $10 seniors/students. For tickets or to receive Westminster’s 2005-2006 season catalog, call the box office at (609) 921-2663.
