On Sept. 13 from 6 to 8 p.m., the Positive Unity Resource Education (P.U.R.E.) Youth Group presented “Gospel Goes Classical: West Coast Orchestra” to the Atherton Auditorium. The production was hosted as a charity event for P.U.R.E. Youth.
“The idea behind this production was to do three things: we wanted to connect, we wanted to build and we wanted to heal. And that’s what our goal was here, to have people that have came in here to leave different and with a different mentality … and I think it was pretty much met,” said Denita Pickens-Jones, founder and executive director of the P.U.R.E Youth Group.
The production was a collaboration between the P.U.R.E. Youth Group, a nonprofit organization, and the Gospel Goes Classical brand.
The event marks the first Gospel Goes Classical production hosted on the West Coast. Leading the 45 piece orchestra was Kendrick Armstrong of the West Coast Orchestra.
Joe Ramirez, host of Christian radio station KYCC’s Sunday Night Joy program, acted as the host for the production. The headliner for the program was award-winning gospel recording artist, Byron Cage. Other guest performers include: Callie Day; James Jackson and the All Stars Choir; Lawrence Hill; Joe and Monica Cota; Buddy from “B-Productions” the band; Praise Dancers Donjae Deferrante and “LoveLove Twins” Charlene and Charlette Richardson.
“This is huge: we have a symphony, we have a gospel choir, we have a band, we have dancers, we have soul artists, we have bongo players; these are all different worlds. So someone who may be in our realm, or in the symphony’s realm, or in the gospel choir’s realm, or in the soloists’ realm or in the African drum realm may not always be in the same company. So events like this brings us all together. It’s unity. It’s inclusion,” Charlette Richardson said. “So I think if we continue this, it can get bigger and bigger and bigger – and a lot of different organizations can follow suit.”
The lineup reflected a variety of music styles with influences from classical, gospel and R&B. The program was also opened by a traditional African percussion ensemble. Performances included: Hill’s cover of Hezekiah Walker’s “I Need You To Survive;” the Cotas’ cover of Tremaine Hawkins’ “The Potter’s House;’ Day’s covers of Kurt Carr’s “For Every Mountain” and Jeannie Tenney’s “One Night With the King” and Cage’s performance of his song “The Presence of the Lord.”
The orchestra also saw other performance elements. As the orchestra played, the Praise Dancers along with child dancers made their way across the stage, weaving a cross sign with white tulle or waving purple and yellow flags as they went in some performances.
For the last performances, Cage spoke advice to the audience and called upon them to raise their hand and stand as believers.
“I think the meaning behind gospel and God and the Bible is that – we should look to him and not look at what’s happening here on Earth as the end-all, be-all – because he’s the one that we are praising. He’s the one we are looking to to rect our path, and as long as we follow him, we’re gonna do well,” said Carrolle McCarter, audience member and wife of Little Flock Missionary Baptist Church pastor Dave McCarter. “We just have to understand that there are things that happen, God didn’t say that we wouldn’t have bad things, he just said he’d protect us from them if we follow him.”
The P.U.R.E. Youth and Community Choir were able to practice regularly prior to the show. However, the orchestra was only able to rehearse live with Armstrong and the other performers the afternoon before the show.
“It’s amazing that even though we have not met before, but you can kind of feel each other; it’s hard to explain but when you can feel a vocalist or any musician, it’s almost that camaraderie where it’s like “okay, so you gonna go there” and then you just automatically, nine times out of ten, what you think you would do, it’s actually what they’re thinking that you will do,” Day said. “It’s just amazing to see it all gel and come together, just like that.”
The proceeds from the concert will go into supporting the P.U.R.E. Youth Group’s literacy program, which is being worked on to be introduced to Stockton.
“I’m an educator, I also teach music … our children don’t get the opportunity to go to see an opera or just to see a symphony play, just to see professional singers sing. That may spark a little spark for a little girl or a little boy, you know,” Day said. “And it’s very important that we include our children in everything. Music is the universal language around the world. If there’s turmoil, as long as we can sing through it, everybody will come into one … It could be a better world if we could just do it through music.”
