The adult workshop concert featuring Cage will start at 7 p.m. Wednesday, June 13 in the Rose Embly McCoy Auditorium. The 100-voice workshop children's choir concert will begin at 6 p.m. Thursday, June 14 in the F.D. Hall Music Center Recital Hall.
Five-time Stellar Award-winner Cage has integrated the praise and worship element into gospel music. As minister of music at two prominent black mega- churches over the last 15 years (Atlanta's New Birth Cathedral, then Ebenezer A.M.E. in Fort Washington, Md.), he's among those introducing this newest wave and broadening its appeal within the family of faith. Popular songs include "The Presence of the Lord is Here," "I Will Bless the Lord" and "There Is a Name."
Wise is making his second appearance as a workshop consultant. The renowned composer- arranger has directed more than 30 choirs and penned more than 500 compositions that have been performed and recorded by local, national and international recording artists. Wise also is founder and president of Raise Productions, a gospel music production company in Columbus, Ohio.
Well-known for its unique instructional methods, the workshop draws church musicians from across the nation. "This workshop seeks to improve church music locally, nationally and internationally," says Dr. Jimmie James Jr., workshop director and chairman of JSU's Department of Music.
Seminars include Church Choir Decorum, Evangelism in Gospel Music, A Well-Balanced Musical Diet, The Role of the Minister of Music vs. A Choir Director: Is There a Difference?, Hymns of the African-American Church, and Speaking to God's People Through Song: A Discussion on Styles and Balance in the Church Music Ministry.
Additional presenters during the four-day workshop include Loretta Galbreath, JSU assistant director of choral activities; Phyllis Lewis-Hale, JSU opera workshop director; Florine Herron, director of music for the Eighth Episcopal District of the A.M.E. church; Ronald Stevens, director of music, Decatur A.M.E. Zion Church; W. Cortez Castilla, JSU director of choral activities; Lannie Spann McBride, elementary music specialist; James M. Hawkins, Jim Hill High School choir director; Cynthia Palmer, gospel artist; Fennoyee Thomas, associate dean, College of Liberal Arts and Behavioral Sciences, Texas Southern University; and Harlan Zackery, JSU instructor of piano.
"Recent workshops have included the latest technology and have given guidance to the technological applications that prepare participants for the new century," explains James, who serves as connectional director of music emeritus for the A.M.E. church and minister of music at Pearl Street A.M.E. Church in Jackson. Chairman of Region 8 of the National Association of Schools of Music since 2004, James represents Mississippi, Alabama, Kentucky and Tennessee on the NASM Board of Directors.
Through June 1, registration for the adult workshop is $100. This fee includes all music and materials. After June 1, the fee will increase to $125. Concert tickets in advance will be $15 and $20 the day of the concert. The $25 children's registration fee includes a workshop T-shirt. The children's concert is free and open to the public. Final registration will begin at 8 a.m. Monday, June 11 in the F.D. Hall Music Center.
Academic and CEU credits are available for graduate and undergraduate students.
The Regency Hotel and Conference Center, located at 400 Greymont Ave., is the official hotel for the workshop. Contact hotel staff at (601) 969-2141 or via e-mail at rubye@regencyjackson.com.The rate is $79 plus tax. Reservations should be made before June 1. The rate for dormitory housing is $15. For more information, contact Dr. Jimmie James Jr. at (601) 979-2141 or via e-mail at jimmie.james@jsums.edu.
Additional information is available at www.jsums.edu/cmw.
Also, visit the new www.sonicboomofthesouth.com for information concerning JSU's world-famous marching band and other historical aspects of the Department of Music at Jackson State University.
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Byron Cage: Invitation to Worship
Sometimes the most profound messages in life are also the simplest and most straightforward. They say just what they mean, and mean exactly what they say. Invitation to Worship, the new release from Byron Cage-Gospel's Prince of Praise-is precisely what it proclaims itself to be. In the wake of his 2004, multi- Stellar Award-winning Gospo Centric debut, which included laurels for Best New Artist, Byron is back in a major way, inviting the Church-and all of God's people-to enter a level of praise and worship to Him both higher and deeper than they've ever encountered before.
Over more than 18 years, as the worship leader of two of America's major, mega-churches, Byron has birthed and grown praise & worship music into traditional Gospel churches where it had been previously unheard. And though 2003's Byron Cage project may have seemed in some ways to be the perfect culmination of those many years spent on that mission, Invitation to Worship decisively and dramatically proves that it was indeed only the beginning of even greater things to come. Co-produced by Byron and the mega-hit-making team PAJAM-JMoss, Paul Allen and Walter Kearny ('N Sync, Destiny's Child, Kiki Sheard)-Invitation to Worship is the perfect meeting place of cutting-edge, contemporary sensibilities and a deep reverence and respect for the traditions of true Sunday morning music of the Church . . .
Biography
Rev. Raymond Wise, Ph. D.,
Rev. Raymond Wise, Ph. D., a native of Baltimore, Md., is the son of C. Dexter Wise Jr. and Rev. Julia Virginia Wise. He began his musical career at the age of three, singing gospel music with his family singing group "The Wise Singers." Rev. Wise was educated through the Baltimore City Public School System and graduated second out of class of 500 from the Paul Laurence Dunbar Community High School in 1979.
He then went on to Denison University (Granville, Ohio) where he reorganized the Black Student Union Choir, started the Black Student Union Ensemble and Dance company, and earned a B.F.A. in Music. From there he went on to study Opera, Art, and German at the Institute for European Studies in Vienna, Austria, then on to study African-American History, Music, and Dance at San Francisco State University in San Francisco, California. He completed an apprenticeship in the business and recording of Gospel Music with the Walter Hawkins Corporation in Oakland, California. Rev. Wise was awarded a Graduate Fellowship from the Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio where earned his Masters in Music Education and Ohio Teacher's Certification. In addition he also completed a Doctorate in Music Education at the Ohio State University . . .
Biography
Dr. Jimmie James, Jr., Chairman, JSU Department of Music
Dr. Jimmie James, Jr. is Chairman of the Department of Music and Professor of Music at Jackson State University. He received the B.M.E. degree from Jackson State University where he was the first tuba major, graduating cum laude; the M.S. degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison; and the Ph.D. degree from the University of Southern Mississippi where he was the first African-American to received that degree.
At JSU, he has served as Director of Musical Activities, Coordinator of the Graduate Music Program, Director of the Concert Band, Assistant Band Director and Director of the Brass Ensemble. A very versatile person, he serves as the Voice of the Sonic Boom of the South, the University's Marching Band.
He was honored by the University by being named to deliver the 1992 Summer Commencement Address. He is married to the former Carrie Green, a retired educator or Ruleville and they are the parents of one son, Michael Renwick of Dallas, TX. Dr. James is the first Connectional Director of Music for the A.M.E. Church and presently serves as Director of Music Emeritus and Historiographer . . .
Biography . .
Jazz at Lincoln Center Presents Higher Ground Hurricane Relief Benefit ConcertBlue Note Records is honored to be able to be able to distribute HIGHER GROUND, a CD that documents the Higher Ground Hurricane Relief Concert that took place in the Rose Hall Theater at Jazz at Lincoln Center on September 17th. Less than 3 weeks after the devastating hurricane Wynton Marsalis mounted this historic evening has assembled an amazing array of talent from the world of jazz, blues, classical, gospel, rock and pop. The concert aired that night on PBS and NPR stations as well as XM Satellite Radio.
Hosted by Laurence Fishburne, performers included Norah Jones, Paul Simon, James Taylor, Herbie Hancock, Diana Krall, Cassandra Wilson, Dianne Reeves, Joe Lovano and Marcus Roberts as well as a number of New Orleans favorite sons who felt the pain even deeper including Wynton himself, Art and Aaron Neville, Allen Toussaint, Terence Blanchard, Marlon and Kent Jordan (featuring Rachel & Stephanie Jordan on track #13), Irvin Mayfield, Jr. and Buckwheat Zydeco.
All net profits from the sale of the CD will be donated to the Higher Ground Relief Fund established by Jazz at Lincoln Center and administered through the Baton Rouge Area Foundation to benefit the musicians, music industry related enterprises and other individuals and entities from the areas in Greater New Orleans who were impacted by Hurricane Katrina and to provide other general hurricane relief.
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