Music
Gospel Choirs Ready for Friendly Competition at the Arsht
Kicking off on Saturday, Jan. 18, Gospel Fest Miami is presented as an evolution of Free Gospel Sundays, which ran for 15 years at the Adrienne Arsht Center. (Photo by Alex Markow, courtesy of the Adrienne Arsht Center)
After fifteen years of Free Gospel Sundays at the Adrienne Arsht Center, the series is entering a new phase, with a new name and a different format.
A key event kicking off the new Gospel Fest Miami is the Arsht Gospel Choir Invitational, set for Saturday, Jan. 18 at the Adrienne Arsht Center’s Knight Concert Hall.
The choral competition offers a top cash prize of $5,000 and the chance to perform at the Gospel Fest finale in June.
The festival will culminate in the inaugural Gospel Fest Miami, scheduled for Saturday, June 21 and Sunday, June 22 at the Knight Concert Hall. (Photo by Alex Markow, courtesy of the Adrienne Arsht Center)
Choirs were invited by the Arsht to submit video performances and were accepted into the invitational based on several criteria. according to Zaylin Yates, the Arsht Center’s community engagement manager. “We evaluated applicants based on vocal quality, creativity in their arrangements, and their alignment with the values of the invitational, such as community engagement and cultural representation,” says Yates.
“Our goal is to curate a lineup that reflects the diversity, talent, and authenticity of Florida’s gospel music scene.”
The festival’s emphasis on community and cultural diversity is best exemplified in the participation of groups like Gamaliel Fleurantin & Community Sounds. Led by Haitian musician Gamaliel Fleurantin, the choir, described as “a faith-based community choir” made up of “a family of Caribbean descendants—Haitians, Bahamians, Jamaicans,” aims to add Caribbean ingredients to South Florida’s gospel scene.
“Gospel music is sung in English, but we may bring some Caribbean elements to it like Haitian Creole,” says Fleurantin.
Fleurantin, whose choir is confirmed for the Gospel Choir Invitational, says that this event gives his choir a platform to highlight the value and dignity of immigrants.
“If you’ve been paying attention to what’s going on lately, how they’re treating immigrants, this gives us an opportunity to truly show them that we’re more than just a number. We’re regular, decent human beings with a purpose in life, who just want the best in life,” he says.
The Miami Mass Choir performing at Free Gospel Sundays in 2014. (Photo by Manny Hernandez, courtesy of the Adrienne Arsht Center)
To those experiencing their music for the first time during Gospel Fest Miami, Gamaliel Fleurantin & Community Sounds hopes to leave them with “a message of life, love and hope.”
Argarita N. Johnson-Palavicini, D.M.A., director and chair of the Florida Memorial University Ambassador Chorale, and one of the judges of the Gospel Choir Invitational, is enthusiastic about the expanded vision of Gospel Fest Miami. “I’m very excited about it because it seems to have garnered a lot of attention,” she says. “I think we received about 20 submissions in such a short period of time. It’s great because moving forward, if we do this annually—and that’s our plan—it’ll garner national recognition and hopefully, maybe one day, international recognition. That’s what we’re looking for.”
Johnson-Palavicini also highlighted the community-focused nature of the choir invitational. “The main goal of it is really outreach. So putting out this Gospel Invitational, and curating it for community choirs, collegiate choirs, and church choirs is an excellent way to deep dive into our community,” she says.
Haitian musician Gamaliel Fleurantin leads Gamaliel Fleurantin & Community Sounds, which he says adds Caribbean ingredients to South Florida’s gospel scene. (Photo courtesy of Joseph Vital Ulysse III)
Jairo Ontiveros, vice president of education and community engagement at the Arsht Center, explained the inspiration behind the shift. “The inspiration for Gospel Fest Miami was last year’s celebration at the end of our 15th season of presenting Free Gospel Sundays. We knew we wanted to refresh and reimagine our gospel programming after 15 years and revisit the art form in a special way that integrates the community, local artists, and national names in the gospel world,” says Ontiveros.
Gospel Fest Miami kicks off with the invitational and runs from January through June. According to Ontiveros, the new format is designed to elevate gospel music and its cultural significance. “Gospel Fest Miami expands the reach out into the community. It’s extended from four concerts at the Arsht each year to more concerts out in our different neighborhoods in Miami from February through May,” he says. “It focuses on some very important components of gospel music, and also creates opportunities for local gospel artists to perform side by side with other national gospel acts.”
Argarita N. Johnson-Palavicini, D.M.A., director and chair of the Florida Memorial University Ambassador Chorale, and one of the judges of the Gospel Choir Invitational. (Photo courtesy Argarita Johnson-Palavicini)
In addition to the choir competition, Gospel Fest Miami will feature “Gospel on the Road,” a series of pop-up performances from February to May. The events will bring gospel music to neighborhoods across Miami-Dade County and spotlight local choirs and performers from throughout South Florida.
The festival will culminate in the inaugural Gospel Fest Miami, scheduled for Saturday, June 21 and Sunday, June 22 at the Knight Concert Hall.
A choir performs at the Little Haiti Cultural Complex in 2023 during Free Gospel Sundays. Choirs will be doing pop up performances like this one for Gospel Fest Miami. (Photo courtesy of Alex Markow)
Over two days, the Arsht Center will host a diverse array of events, including a free film screening on the history and roots of gospel music, pre-show artist conversations with historians discussing the music’s connection to the Civil Rights movement, and clinics and workshops for vocalists of all levels.
The celebration will also feature a free performance by some of Miami’s top gospel acts, and the grand finale will be a star-studded concert with national headliners, local performers, and the winners of the Arsht Gospel Choir Invitational.
Local gospel artist Corey Edwards, a member of the Arsht Gospel Council, speaks to the transformative power of gospel music and its potential to inspire audiences. “Audiences can look forward to the type of power and passion that only gospel choir music can bring,” he says.
Corey Edwards sees Gospel Fest Miami as an opportunity to rejuvenate the gospel choir tradition, which saw a decline during the pandemic. (Photo courtesy of the artist)
Edwards also sees Gospel Fest Miami as an opportunity to rejuvenate the gospel choir tradition, which he says experienced a decline during the pandemic. “This event will help to inspire the resurgence and cultivation of the gospel choir concept in local churches, schools, and communities.”
And, perhaps, Gospel Fest Miami will attract audiences that haven’t been exposed to gospel music. “I hope that Gospel Fest will help to inspire and engage new audiences to gospel by introducing them to the unique sound, rhythms, and timeless messages that only gospel can bring,” says Edwards.
WHAT: Gospel Fest Miami
WHEN, WHERE: 6 p.m., Saturday, Jan. 18, Arsht Gospel Choir Invitational, Adrienne Arsht Center’s Knight Concert Hall, 300 Biscayne Blvd. Miami; Gospel on the road: Gwen Cherry Park, 7090 NW 22nd Ave., Saturday, Feb. 22; Betty T. Ferguson Recreational Complex, 3000 NW 199th St., Miami Gardens, March 23; Little Haiti Cultural Complex, 212 NE 59th Terrace, April 28; Loren Roberts Park, 627 SW 6th Ave., Homestead, May 17; Gospel Fest Miami Weekend: Knight Concert Hall, Saturday, June 21 and Sunday, June 22.
COST: Arsht Gospel Choir Invitational, free (RSVP); Gospel on the Road, free; Gospel Fest Miami Weekend, price TBA
INFORMATION: 305-949-6722 or arshtcenter.org
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