Wittenberg’s IMANI Gospel Choir will be featured in a program along with its director, Kent Ross Brooks, Sunday, September 21, at 3:00 P.M. in a program for the monthly Sanctuary Series at High Street United Methodist Church, 230 E. High Street in downtown Springfield. The program is admission free with an offering taken to help support the series. A reception will follow the program in The Commons at the church.
Music for the program will be taken from various periods of the 20th & 21st Century Gospel genre including spirituals, hymns, freedom songs and contemporary gospel. Additionally, there will be stories told of the composers and the context in which these musical offerings were birthed.
An afternoon with IMANI also means exciting audience participation through singing and clapping! All are welcome to attend for an afternoon of inspiration.
The word IMANI means faith in Swahili and these young people sing about their faith through African-American gospel songs, spirituals, contemporary gospel songs and arranged hymns.
The IMANI Gospel choir was formed as a student group in 1995 on the campus of Wittenberg University under the Campus Ministry Division. Over the years, the choir has enjoyed many performance opportunities both locally and abroad. The choir is highlighted annually at the university’s Martin Luther King, Jr. Convocation.
IMANI was featured with the Central State University Gospel Choir to sing for a program featuring Dr. Cornel West. They also sang for the historic inauguration of Wittenberg’s first female president.