The Georgia Spiritual Ensemble Presents a Concert of African American Spirituals and the Music of PORGY AND BESS, 5/4

The Georgia Spiritual Ensemble presents a concert offamiliar African American spirituals and the music of Gershwin's Porgy and Bess. The concert will take place on May 4th at the Roswell United Methodist Church. Tickets are not needed for this concert.

The Georgia Spiritual Ensemble was created to further the enduring legacy and tradition of the African American Spiritual. Born out of the horrific conditions through which the enslaved Africans suffered during their early days of existence in this country, these songs became just one of the tools used to inform the world of their plight, sufferings, feelings, and to talk to their God about a life and a home to which they longed to return. The tradition of singing these quaint plaintive melodies in concert began with the Fisk Jubilee Singers in 1872. As a continuation of that tradition, The Georgia Spiritual Ensemble is dedicated to bringing to life the feelings, emotions and musical genius possessed by each of these musical gems

The Ensemble members, Debra Crampton, Timothy Harper, Selina Madison, Oral Moses, Mazelle Webster and Johnetta Tillman have all enjoyed much success in the Metropolitan Atlanta area and nationally, performing traditional and arranged choral and solo spirituals that have been popularized throughout the twentieth century. Because of the strong musical legacy the spiritual possesses and the horrific conditions under which it developed, it continues to be a uniquely original American art form as it maintains its haunting quality and uncanny beauty and dignity.