Sonoma State University’s Weill Hall at the Green Music Center will be hosting the award-winning Oakland Interfaith Gospel Choir, a choir that embodies a community of diverse races, cultures, and faiths, on Feb. 1 at 8 p.m.
Founded in 1986, the Gospel Choir’s mission is to inspire joy and unity among people through black gospel and spiritual music. Oakland Interfaith Gospel Choir became an independent non-profit organization led by the Emmy-award winner, Terrance Kelly. The Choir appears on Grammy-award winning albums by Linda Rondstadt, MC Hammer, Tramaine Hawkins, and others.
The Oakland Interfaith Gospel Choir brings together over fifty-five singers and four instrumentalists who embody a community of diverse races, cultures, and faiths. The Choir was named “Best Gospel Choir” in 2006 and was the winner in the “Best Church music” category in 2009 in the East Bay Express Reader’s Polls. Terrance Kelly, the exuberant leader of the Choir, was awarded the Dr. Edwin Hawkins Excellence Award in 2013.
“There’s a strong spiritual connection with the audience in concerts and with the congregation in church settings — a back and forth of energy that builds up. Terrance is a master of building that energy. It can be a delicate craft” says Ben Heveroh, who plays the piano and organ for the Choir.
The best way to grasp the choir’s greatness is to hear them in person. The Oakland Interfaith Gospel Choir is a free event for students, staff, faculty, and the community, but it is ticketed. Tickets are available now and can be picked up at the Info and Tickets desk in the SSU Student Center or online at tickets.sonoma.edu. The Oakland Interfaith Gospel Choir event is a part of Black History Month and the LoboFest spirit week.