An Evening with Westminster Jubilee Singers, Alumni & Friends

The Westminster Jubilee Singers, Alumni and Friends will honor founder and conductor J. Donald Dumpson with a special concert on Sunday, April 17 at 7:30 p.m. at the Princeton Regional Schools Performing Arts Center at Princeton High School.

The evening will feature performances by the 2010-2011 Jubilee Singers, as well as  50 Jubilee alumni, including Laquita Mitchell, a Metropolitan Opera Council grand prize winner, and Anwar Robinson, an American Idol finalist.  The program will include such favorites as O How I Love Jesus, Grandma’s Hands, Stomp and Silver and Gold.  “This will be an exciting evening of stirring gospel songs, spirituals and more to move your body and your soul,” says Mr. Dumpson, who is stepping down in May to complete work on a doctorate at Temple University.

The Westminster Jubilee Singers is a very intimate ensemble composed of Westminster Choir College students who are selected by audition.  It is modeled after the historically acclaimed Fisk Jubilee Singers, and its repertoire, while specialized and select, is very diverse and focuses on solo and ensemble artistic expressions from its singers. A part of the college’s sacred music department, the ensemble performs literature that includes African-American spirituals and folk songs; classical music by African-American composers; African chants and dances; gospel music and secular songs. The ensemble has performed at Carnegie Hall with the New York Pops Orchestra, under the baton of Skitch Henderson, in a concert version of Porgy and Bess.  At the New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark, it has presented joint concerts with the Fisk University Jubilee Singers and the legendary Sweet Honey in the Rock.  The ensemble’s first recording, A Celebration of Spirituals, Hymns and Gospel Songs, was released in 2003.

A member of the sacred music faculty at Westminster Choir College, conductor J. Donald Dumpson is also minister of music and arts at the Arch Street Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia. He has guest-conducted the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra (NJSO) and Chorus to critical acclaim. He served on the production team for the syndicated television special “An Evening of Stars” and assisted with the choral preparation of the Opera Company of Philadelphia’s production of Porgy and Bess. Mr. Dumpson was co-producer for Black Entertainment Television’s First Annual African-American Sacred Music Festival. He has worked with such popular artists as the late Cab Calloway, Sandi Duncan, Denyce Graves, LL Cool J, Quincy Jones, Patti LaBelle, Boyz II Men, Richard Smallwood, Tommy Tune and Grover Washington, Jr.

 Admission to the performance is $20 for adults and $15 for students and seniors. Rider University faculty, staff and students receive one free ticket with valid ID.

For updates or to purchase tickets call the box office at 609-921-2663 or go online. Princeton Regional Schools Performing Arts Center is located at Princeton High School, where Walnut Lane and Franklin Street meet in Princeton, N.J.

Rider University will offer shuttle service between Lawrenceville and Princeton for this concert.  See the schedule below: