Naugatuck Valley Community College Gospel Choir Celebrating 10th Anniversary Season

Waterbury, Conn. - In the beginning they could do 2 out of 3 things. They could sing and clap. They could sing and rock. Or they could clap and rock.

What started as 13 students with little beyond a love of the music has become the rocking, rousing Naugatuck Valley Community College Gospel Choir, now celebrating its tenth year of bringing this joyful music to the college community and beyond.

The Gospel Choir was formed in 2000 by Stuart Gillespie, former head of the music department at the College, and James Hurdle, choir director at Zion Baptist Church in Waterbury, as a way to involve more students in the music program.

“Gospel singing is truly a ministry in itself,” said Hurdle. “To quote Mahalia Jackson, the queen of gospel music, ‘when you sing gospel, you have the feeling there is a cure for what’s wrong.’”

The Choir is composed of students and community members, several of whom have been with the group since the first season. This core group, affectionately called “the founding sisters” by Hurdle, forms the framework of an established Gospel Choir that new students can fit themselves into each semester without requiring a rebuilding each academic year.

This year the choir’s season will kick off with a performance at the Good Fridays Coffee House, United Methodist Church, 214 Meadow Street, Naugatuck, from 8-10:00 pm on October 30. Admission is free and all are welcome.

The choir will also perform at the annual Woodbury Christmas Festival with the Connecticut Choral Society Chamber Singers at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, December 4, at the North Congregational Church, routes 6 and 47.

The 10th anniversary year will culminate with the annual spring concert at the College in
May of 2010.

The group sings modern and classic gospel songs, based on old Negro spirituals that incorporate a jazz or rhythm and blues style. Improvisation by soloists is welcomed.

“We are not bound by the notes,” said Hurdle.

Previous concert venues have included the Mattatuck Museum Arts and History Center,
Westover School, B’Nai Israel Synagogue, the Meriden Mall and area churches.

“My most moving experience has been singing at the Meriden Mall” said Marie Catuccio of Watertown, a choir member since 2000. “I was so elated to take the gospel music message out of the school halls and into the market place. I felt like it was where we should be.”

Scholarship assistance is available for qualified students who register for the Gospel Choir for the spring semester, which starts January 21, 2010.

The choir encourages community, faculty and staff participation. It rehearses at 7 pm on Tuesdays at the College.