Gospel Night at Pops 2022

Keith Lockhart is the second longest-tenured conductor of the Boston Pops Orchestra since its founding in 1885. He took over as conductor in 1995, following John Williams’s 13-year tenure from 1980 to 1993; Mr. Williams succeeded the legendary Arthur Fiedler, who was at the helm of the orchestra for nearly 50 years. Keith Lockhart, who occupies the Julian and Eunice Cohen Boston Pops Conductor chair, has conducted more than 2,000 Boston Pops concerts and annual Boston Pops appearances at Tanglewood, as well as 45 national tours and 4 international tours to Japan and Korea. The annual Boston Pops Fireworks Spectacular conducted by Mr. Lockhart draws a live audience of over half a million to the Charles River Esplanade and millions more who view it on television or live webcast. He has led eight albums on RCA Victor/BMG Classics; recent releases on Boston Pops Recordings include A Boston Pops Christmas–Live from Symphony Hall, The Dream Lives On: A Portrait of the Kennedy Brothers, and Lights, Camera…Music! Six Decades of John Williams. The list of nearly 300 guest artists with whom Keith Lockhart has collaborated represents performers from virtually every corner of the entertainment world. Having recently completed an 8-year tenure as principal conductor, he is now chief guest conductor of the BBC Concert Orchestra in London; he is also artistic director of the Brevard Music Center summer institute and festival in North Carolina. Prior to his BBC appointment, he spent 11 years as music director of the Utah Symphony. He has appeared as a guest conductor with virtually every major symphonic ensemble in North America and many in Asia and Europe. Before coming to Boston, he was the associate conductor of both the Cincinnati Symphony and Cincinnati Pops orchestras, as well as music director of the Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra.

Read Keith Lockhart’s full biography

View the Boston Pops roster and musician bios

For more than 135 years, the Boston Pops has entertained audiences in Boston and beyond, with Boston Pops Conductor Keith Lockhart leading the orchestra since 1995. It all began in 1885, thanks to the vision of Civil War veteran Henry Lee Higginson. Four years earlier, in 1881, he founded the Boston Symphony Orchestra, calling its establishment "the dream of my life." From the start he intended to present, in the warmer months, concerts of light classics and the popular music of the day. From a practical perspective, Higginson realized that these "lighter" performances would provide year-round employment for his musicians. The "Promenade Concerts," as they were originally called, were soon informally known as "Popular Concerts," which eventually became shortened to "Pops," the name officially adopted in 1900. The following year the orchestra performed for the first time in its new home, Symphony Hall. Not only is this performance space acoustically outstanding, it was also designed, at Higginson's insistence, so that the rows of seats for Boston Symphony concerts could be replaced by tables and chairs for Pops concerts. To this day, patrons sitting at the cabaret-style tables can enjoy food and drink along with the kind of musical entertainment only the Boston Pops can provide.

There were 17 Pops conductors, beginning with the German Adolf Neuendorff, that preceded Arthur Fiedler, the first American-born musician to lead the orchestra. In Fiedler’s nearly 50-year tenure as Pops Conductor (1930-1979), he established the Boston Pops as a national icon. When John Williams (1980-1993) succeeded Arthur Fiedler, he was the most highly acclaimed composer in Hollywood, and today, with 52 Academy Award nominations, he is the most-nominated living person in Academy history. Mr. Williams continued the Boston Pops Orchestra's prolific recording tradition with a series of best-selling recordings for the Philips and Sony Classical labels, broadened and updated the Pops repertoire, and entertained audiences with live orchestral accompaniment to clips of memorable movie scenes, many featuring iconic music from his own film scores.

Having led over 2,000 Boston Pops concerts in his tenure to date, Keith Lockhart (1995-present) has created programs that reach out to a broader and younger audience by presenting artists—both established performers and rising stars—from virtually every corner of the entertainment world, all the while maintaining the Pops' core appeal. He has made 83 television shows, led 45 national and four overseas tours with the Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra, led the Pops at several high-profile sports events, and recorded 14 albums. Mr. Lockhart's tenure has been marked by a dramatic increase in touring, the orchestra's first Grammy nominations, the first major network national broadcast of the July 4 Boston Pops Fireworks Spectacular from the Esplanade, and the release of the Boston Pops' first self-produced and self-distributed recordings.

James (Jim) Norman Gwin, drummer of the Boston Pops Orchestra, died peacefully on Tuesday, December 28, 2021, at 64 years old.

Statement from Keith Lockhart

At the Boston Pops, we pride ourselves on playing all sorts of music…classical, of course, but also jazz, rock, pop, world music, and beyond. For much of that repertoire, the steady heartbeat that allows an orchestra to play with spectacular clarity and tight ensemble is provided, not by the conductor on the podium, but by the drummer.

Playing the drumset for a large symphony orchestra is an extraordinarily difficult task. Knowledge of styles of play…being able to sound like Ringo Starr, or Gene Krupa, or Charlie Watts…is a must. So is an ability to read a conductor’s intentions, to hear how the orchestra is responding, and to justify those two things into a rock-solid, but flexible, foundation.

I have never worked with a better orchestral drummer than Jim Gwin. He was a superb drummer, but even more a superb musician. He was also one of the nicest…self-effacing, generous, and very funny…people I have ever shared a stage with. When he was suddenly taken ill in December this year, he wrote me an apologetic note, in which he reminded me that these concerts were the first he had missed since he became the regular Pops drummer in 2004. That means I must have done at least 1500 concerts with him. Every one of them was better because he was backing the band.

I will miss Jim as a friend and as a colleague, and as someone who just made every musical situation, and the players around him, better. My recurring image of him, which I have been unable to get out of my mind since hearing of his passing, is of running into him in the halls under the Symphony Hall stage. He has his head bent to the side, because he was extremely tall and the basement ceilings extremely low, and he was one of those tall folk who always looked like they were trying to be shorter. And he passes, with a grin, and says “Hey, Chief!”

The great thing about being in the performing arts is getting to know really talented, extraordinary people extremely well. The awful thing is having to say goodbye.

Steve Colby, Sound Designer | Pamela Smith, Lighting Designer

The Boston Pops Orchestra may be heard on Boston Pops Recordings, RCA Victor, Sony Classical, and Philips Records.

Concertmaster Tamara Smirnova performs on a 1754 J.B. Guadagnini violin, the “ex-Zazofsky,” and James Cooke performs on a 1778 Nicolò Gagliano violin, both generously donated to the orchestra by Michael L. Nieland, M.D., in loving memory of Mischa Nieland, a member of the cello section from 1943 to 1988.

Steinway & Sons Pianos, selected exclusively for Symphony Hall.

The BSO’s Steinway & Sons pianos were purchased through a generous gift from Gabriella and Leo Beranek.

Special thanks to American Airlines and Fairmont Copley Plaza.

New arrangements and works for the Boston Pops are generously supported by the Cecile Higginson Murphy Pops Programming Fund.

Broadcasts of the Boston Pops are heard on 99.5 WCRB.

Programs and artists subject to change.

The BSO’s 2021-22 season is supported in part by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, which receives support from the State of Massachusetts and the National Endowment for the Arts.

This project is supported in part by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts.

Boston Symphony Orchestra, Inc.
Board of Trustees | Board of Advisors | Staff and Administration

Gospel Night at Pops XXVIII (2022)

By Dennis L. Slaughter, EdM. DLP, Artistic Director, Gospel Night at Pops

In 1993, with an enthusiasm for music as their common bond, the Boston Pops Orchestra and the inaugural Gospel Night community choir came together to begin a relationship of music making. Little did anyone on that stage know that a nearly thirty-year relationship was in the making. From the conductor, Maestro Isaiah Jackson, to the least experienced singer and player on that stage—they knew that they were doing something rare, but they couldn’t have known it would catch on quite as it has. The orchestra and the singers, alike, are learning more about what drives each other’s enthusiasm for music and also about what keeps each side returning annually to perform.

One significant item that has kept the choir and orchestra in relationship has been the growing audience that looks forward to this program. “Gospel Night at Pops” is, of course, about two very different and self-sufficient agents coming together to create something that neither could on its own. The fact that an audience appreciates the coming together of these two entities makes the relationship between the choir and orchestra even more exciting. The enthusiasm continues.

Over the years, members of the choir have developed an appreciation for the politics, construction, practice/performance schedules, and related contractual components of the orchestra. The choir comes with similar components—sans a contract—and is appreciated by the orchestra, as well, for its commitment to quality programming. This mutual appreciation and collaboration has led to other programmatic occurrences such as gospel-inspired Independence Day performances, performances with various Pops guest artists (outside of Gospel Night), Christmas Pops performances, and Pops recordings. All of this occurred after a few brave innovators decided in 1993 that it was the right time to move in new directions.

It is apropos to mention the names of the two innovators—now deceased, but very alive in spirit—Kenneth Haas and Vondal Taylor, Esq., who pushed forward the idea of Gospel Night and got the ball rolling for the inaugural concert. Kenneth Haas was the executive director of the Pops organization and Vondal Taylor, a fine gospel musician and enthusiast, was an Overseer (now termed “Advisor”) of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. These two gentlemen, along with Dennis Alves, Maestro Isaiah Jackson, Alvin Parris (arranger), and others, began Gospel Night. We owe them, and their hard work of convincing the organization that this was a good idea, a debt of gratitude.

The collaborations that make Gospel Night come together year after year have the additional benefit of availing the choir and orchestra a set of gospel artists that neither would perhaps enjoy without the other. Guest artists through the years include such names as:

• Jubilant Sykes, tenor (1999)
• Gabrielle Goodman, soprano (2000)
• Rev. Daryl Coley, tenor (2001)
• Jennifer Holliday, vocal artist (2005)
• Rev. Marvin L. Winans, baritone (2007)
• Oleta Adams, alto (2008)
• Edwin & Walter Hawkins & The New Edwin Hawkins Singers (2009)
• Rev. Wintley Phipps, bass (2013)
• Take 6, vocal ensemble (2014)
• The Blind Boys of Alabama, vocal ensemble (2015)
• Darlene Love, alto (2016)
• CeCe Winans (2017)
• Melinda Dolittle (2018)
• Dottie Peoples (2019)

The superglue holding a great deal of this project together is the one and only Maestro Charles Floyd. Floyd’s tasks are to select the music, write orchestral arrangements, write rhythm arrangements, audition and select local soloists, rehearse the soloists, rehearse the choir, rehearse the rhythm section, rehearse the guest artists, prepare for and conduct the full ensemble, and conduct the concert…what more is ONE person to do? The world is quite fortunate to have a Maestro Charles Floyd. Boston has fortunately benefitted from his presence for all except two Gospel Night performances.

It is guaranteed that a future group of innovators will update the orchestra’s programming for their day. We, the current choir and orchestra, can be pleased about the relationship and foundation that has been built to this point. A firm foundation for future endeavors and musical collaboration is in place.

BOSTON POPS ORCHESTRA
Charles Floyd conducting

SEASON SPONSORED BY FIDELITY INVESTMENTS

Celebration!
Hailstork

Theme from Exodus
Gold-Mason

Hymn for the Fallen
Floyd

Song for World Peace
Williams

Hymn to New England
Williams

INTERMISSION

A TRIBUTE TO SMOKIE NORFUL
with RAKEEM-ANDRE
Dennis Montgomery, organ; Mark Copeland, piano; Wayne Pittman, bass; Sean Skeete, drums
Vocal ensemble: Christina DeVaughn, Ida Kamrara, Renese King, Samuel Moscoso

Celebrate
Norful-Floyd

No Greater Love
Norful/Lindsey-Floyd

I Need You Now
Norful-Floyd

Mighty God
Norful/Jones-Floyd

Presenting
THE BOSTON POPS GOSPEL CHOIR
Brother Dennis L. Slaughter, Artistic Director; Norris V. Welch, Choir Manager

The Lord’s Prayer
Floyd

Great Big God
Knowles-Floyd
SHERYLYNN SEALY

Lift Him Up
Patrick-Floyd
RENESE KING

God and God Alone
Rhone-Floyd
CHRISTINA DEVAUGHN and JERMAINE TULLOCH

Take It to the Lord in Prayer (What a Friend)
Wright/Scriven-Floyd
IDA KAMRARA

Special thanks to Martha Vedrine and Troy Byner

Special thanks to Mildred Walker and Sharon Molden

In loving memory of Annie L. Welch

The Boston Pops welcomes B Fit!, Harvard Outings & Innings, Ministerial Alliance, and Woodside Montessori Academy.

Born in Chicago, conductor-pianist-composer Charles Floyd began studying piano at age 4, gave his first solo recital at age 9, and by age 20 had been heard in solo recital, chamber music, and concerto performances throughout the United States and Spain. His mentors include pianists Joseph Schwartz, the late Aube Tzerko, Howard Karp, Lee Luvisi, and Misha Dichter. As a conductor, he has led more than 500 orchestras since 1991, during which time his podium work caught the special attention of conductors James DePreist and Seiji Ozawa. He has appeared with the symphony orchestras of Detroit, Oregon, Saint Louis, Philadelphia, Buffalo, San Francisco, Chicago, and Baltimore, as well as with the Scottish National Radio Orchestra, Toronto Symphony, Sydney Symphony, Melbourne Symphony, Auckland Symphony, Wellington Sinfonia (New Zealand), Honolulu Symphony, London Philharmonic, Edmonton Symphony (Alberta, Canada), and the Holland Symfonia (Haarlem and Amsterdam, The Netherlands). During the 2003-04 season, he appeared with the Los Angeles Philharmonic in four different programs, and in July 2004 made his Brooklyn Philharmonic debut at Carnegie Hall. A regular guest conductor of the Boston Pops for more than twenty years, he leads the annual Gospel Night at Pops at Symphony Hall. His work in the 1996 season included a PBS telecast of Evening at Pops featuring Patti LaBelle and Edwin Hawkins, and critically acclaimed performances as pianist of Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue under Keith Lockhart. Mr. Floyd’s programs have featured such artists as Grace Bumbry, Harolyn Blackwell, Sting, Elton John, Brian Wilson, James Taylor, Matt Lauer, the Paratore Brothers, Yolanda Adams, Jennifer Holliday, Daryl Coley, Kirk Franklin, Doc Severinsen, Sergio Mendes, Chris Botti, Stevie Wonder, Wynona Judd, William Warfield, and Edwin Hawkins. In 1998 he was music director for PBS’s A Cathedral Christmas, with Metropolitan Opera mezzo-soprano Denyce Graves at the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C. His eleven-year partnership with singer Natalie Cole included such projects as the multiple Grammy Award-winning tribute to Nat King Cole entitled Unforgettable, With Love, the Emmy Award-winning PBS “Great Performances” concert video of the same title, as well as the Grammy-winning releases Take a Look and Stardust. Charles Floyd’s compositions range from chamber music to large orchestral and vocal works. A tribute to the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, One Man’s Dream for narrator and orchestra, was commissioned and premiered by the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra in 2001. His Four Spirituals for soprano and orchestra was premiered at Symphony Hall with the Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra in 1995, and his oratorio Hosanna for gospel chorus and orchestra premiered here in 2000. The 2012 “Gospel Night” program featured the Boston premiere of his cello concerto, with Boston Symphony cellist Owen Young as soloist. In July 2005 Charles Floyd conducted Howard Shore’s The Lord of the Rings Symphony at the request of the Oscar-winning film composer. In January 2009 he was the conductor for “We Are One,” the pre-inaugural celebration for President Barack Obama at the Lincoln Memorial.

Andre Chapman, aka Rakeem-Andre, is a gospel artist from Boston, MA, who is gaining a growing reputation as an anointed singer. This gifted young man has been working diligently on creating his own soulful sound in the gospel/R&B industry. Chapman started writing his own music 16 years ago and continued his work singing with various gospel groups in New York and Boston. He moved Gloria Estefan to tears soloing at the Gospel Jazz Fest at Berklee College of Music in 2016. He also has an A-list movie (Detroit, 2017) credited to his name for his work singing with the choir. At this year’s Gospel Night at Pops, he stands in for Grammy Award-winning gospel artist Smokie Norful, who withdrew from the concert due to illness.

The Boston Pops Gospel Choir, made up of volunteers from church choirs and other choruses in the greater Boston area, was originally brought together to participate in the first “Gospel Night at Pops,” which took place on Sunday, June 13, 1993. “Gospel Night” came about as a result of the vision and commitment of the Boston Symphony Orchestra’s Cultural Diversity Committee, and particularly because of the late Vondal M. Taylor, Jr. (1954-95), who was Vice-Chairman of the committee and a BSO Overseer. That first performance was led by guest conductor Isaiah Jackson, and Alvin Parris III prepared the choir. The following year Charles Floyd, perhaps best known for his work with Natalie Cole, led acclaimed “Gospel Night” performances, which featured his own arrangements, both at Symphony Hall and on the Esplanade. This season, which marks the 28th annual “Gospel Night at Pops,” Mr. Floyd returns to lead the concert for the 26th time. In 1996 the Boston Pops Gospel Choir joined Patti LaBelle and Edwin Hawkins for a concert taped for the PBS series Evening at Pops.

This year, as a precaution during the ongoing COVID pandemic, our choir size was limited in number. We hope for much more favorable conditions for the future.
—Norris Welch

* Honorable mention to members who were not able to be onstage with us tonight but who sit in the audience with you, as well as those unable to attend.

** Soloists

SOPRANOS
Aislin Kate Anderson
Sheila Azores
Neni Carolina Chacin
Elizabeth Clifford
Maru Colbert *
Victoria Dandridge
Christina DeVaughn **
Paula Elliott
Karen Green
(Marie) Carline Hollant
Ida Kamrara **
Ayeesha Lane *
Jane Lanzillo
Mary Kathleen Leazott
Amina Michel-Lord
Barbara Roach *
Christine Rutledge
Sharon Sealy
Danielle Shelton
Charlotte Spinkston
Pamela St Aimee
Marie Toussaint
Martha Vedrine

ALTOS
Marcia Brathwaite *
Suzanne Buell *
Sheri Callender
Adrienne E. Campbell *
Judy Davis
Camilla Davis
Margaret Evans *
Yihong Emmy Guo
Bella V. Harris
Val Harris-Alleyne
Angela Hedley-Mitchell *
Kristina Howell *
Marcia Jackson *
George-Marie Jasmin
Renese King **
JoAnne Loretti *
Marisa Luse *
Marie-Elle Merchant *
Sharon Molden **
Monica Moore *
Kimberly Oliver
Kate Prescott *
Maia Raynor
Barbara Ryan *
Sherylynn Sealy **
Elyse Seltzer
Jacquinn Sinclair
Crystal Tavares *
Pat Temple
Beth Tortolani *
Jermaine Tulloch **
Mildred Walker **
Phil Waters *
Patricia Wilkinson *
Myra Williams *
Heather Williams
Angelica Wilshire
Felicia Wiltz *
Vicki Zelski

TENORS
Donna M. Bayne *
Anthony Clayton
Carl Corey
Matthew Dwyer *
Elly Draper Pendergast
LaDarrell Hagans
Michael Jones
Samuel Moscoso **
Geoffrey O'Hara
Donald Smith
Terry Spinkston-Brown
Victor Washington
Josephine Watson
Norris Welch *

BASS
Philip Clinton
Austin de Besche
Brian McGovern
Todd McNeel
Jonathan Temple
Bradley Turner
Wesley Vaughn

Bro. Dennis Slaughter, Artistic Director
Norris Welch, Choir Manager

Christina E. DeVaughn, a native of Boston, received her master’s degree in opera performance from the Boston Conservatory, where she was the recipient of the Boston Conservatory Music Division Scholarship. For over 20 years, she has performed as a soloist in Langston Hughes’ Black Nativity, produced annually by the National Center of Afro-American Artists. She has also been a soloist for Gospel Night at Pops and with the Orchestra of Indian Hill, the Key West Symphony Orchestra, Pine Valley Symphony, and Cape Cod Opera. She has worked with Boston Lyric Opera, Cambridge Lieder and Opera Company, Chorus Pro Musica, Cantata Singers, and Landmarks Orchestra. She is the proud parent of one miracle daughter, Kyrieh.

Ida Kamrara has been a featured vocalist with Gospel Night at Pops and Holiday Pops. She can be heard on Just 4 Praize’s CD Joy Divine. Ms. Kamrara performs with the Boston Community Choir, NEC Millennium Choir, Harlem Gospel Choir, and in the Langston Hughes play Black Nativity. She has appeared on local and national television. Being selected to sing at Gospel Music Workshop of America’s New Artist Showcase was an honor. Her desire is to touch hearts with her voice. She is grateful to her family, friends, and numerous directors, conductor Charles Floyd, Dr. Dennis Slaughter, and Norris Welch for being supportive of her musical journey.

Renese King's array of musical talents have taken her from spiritual and gospel singing at the church podium to timpani playing on the Carnegie Hall stage. She has appeared as guest soloist with the Boston Pops several times and has been praised in the Boston Globe. She is featured on the soundtracks of three Emmy, Peabody, and Sundance award-winning PBS documentary films (Freedom Riders, 2011, Freedom Summer, 2014, and Tell Them We Are Rising, 2018), leads a chorus of freedom riders in a spontaneous expression of solidarity in the Oprah Winfrey television special “The Freedom Riders Reunite 50 Years Later” (aired 2011), and is the recipient of a Gospel/Inspirational Artist of the Year Boston Music Award.

Gifted speaker and singer and spirited exhorter are just a few attributes assigned to the character of Sharon Molden. A native of Dallas, TX, she is an active member and vocalist at the Messiah Baptist Church in Brockton, MA, and currently serves as the director of its children’s choir. She can be heard throughout New England singing with numerous well-known choirs and in many venues. For the past 26 years, Sharon has appeared as a lead vocalist and member of the Boston Pops Gospel Choir and has also been a featured vocalist during the Holiday Pops season. She recently was the featured artist for the Stonehill College Nakamichi Concert Series.

Born in Germany to an operatic family, singer, songwriter, and actor Samuel Moscoso has been featured throughout the U.S. and Europe and has performed at the White House and for Pope John Paul II in Rome. He has worked with the LA Chamber Orchestra and performed the world premiere of conductor/composer Charles Floyd’s Song of Solomon with the Boston Pops among numerous other appearances with that orchestra. Additional highlights include working with film composer John Williams, gospel icons Marvin Winans and Daryl Coley, and singer/songwriter Rachel Platten. Moscoso studied at the New England Conservatory, Berklee College of Music, and the Rabine Institute of Functional Voice Pedagogy, and he is pursuing a masters in voice pathology.

Sherylynn Sealy is a creative. She facilitates vocal worship experiences at churches and venues including Boston Symphony Hall, Edward A. Hatch Memorial Shell at Charles River Esplanade of Boston, and other prominent venues across New England. A trained dancer in ballet and various ballroom styles as well as a certified yoga instructor, she created TrustLoveKnow | The Christian Wellness Company, where she uses her passions to support spiritual growth. Sherylynn is a Teach for America alumna. She received her master of public administration degree from New York University and her bachelor’s degree from Northeastern University. She is the senior program manager for Grantmakers in the Arts.

Jermaine Tulloch studied voice performance and pedagogy at Longy School of Music. Performance opportunities have included stages in Cuba, Honduras, Belize, sports stadiums, Symphony Hall, Boston Lyric Opera, and the Today Show, to name a few. Television credits include a season of The Chorus (Jermaine) on the TLC Network. Among his musical theater credits are Once on This Island (Papa Ge, Ton Ton Julian), The Wiz (Lion), Treemonisha (Simone), Brother Nat (Amos), The Bodyguard (Sy Spector), and Into the Woods (The Witch). Currently, Jermaine is the choral director at O’Bryant High School, voice instructor at Riverside Theater Works, and minister at New Life COOLJC.

Mildred E. Walker is a vocalist, keyboardist, choir director, and music educator. A native of Dorchester, she is the K-12 music educator at the Brockton Virtual Learning Academy in Brockton, MA. Mildred graduated magna cum laude from the University of Massachusetts – Dartmouth with a BA in music with a concentration in music education. Mildred is also a principal soloist in the National Center for Afro-American Artists’ production of Langston Hughes’s Black Nativity and a member of the Boston Pops Gospel Choir, and she has performed with the Harlem Gospel Choir, the Boston Camerata, and many other choirs, ensembles, and productions.