WSRE PBS has been awarded a Foo Foo Festival grant to present a three-day music event highlighted by the award-winning gospel choir Sing Harlem and a regional gospel competition. The Joyful Noise! Gospel Celebration will be Nov. 8-10 with a student workshop at Dixon School of Arts & Sciences, the Joyful Noise! Gospel Competition at Pensacola High School, and a champagne brunch featuring Sing Harlem in concert at Lily Hall in Downtown Pensacola.
Under the direction of Ahmaya Knoelle Higginson, Sing Harlem is an influential force in the New York gospel scene. The musical group, from Mama Foundation for the Arts, performs across America and starred on the 17th season of “America’s Got Talent.”
Higginson’s mother is Vy Higginsen, the producer, author, playwright and broadcaster who founded Mama Foundation for the Arts with its mission “to make a joyful noise, to uplift the Black musical treasures of gospel, jazz and R&B, and to heal and inspire through the power of collective music-making.”
The mother-and-daughter team will conduct the educational workshop at Dixon School of Arts & Sciences on Nov. 8, judge the gospel competition on Nov. 9, and appear with Sing Harlem at the gospel brunch on Nov. 10.
Choirs can enter The Joyful Noise! Gospel Competition by submitting videos that follow contest regulations. The deadline for submitting video entries is Sunday, Sept. 1. (Update 8/23/2024: Gospel Competition entry deadline has been extended to Sunday, Sept. 15.) Contest rules and video submission requirements are on the WSRE PBS website at wsre.org/joyfulnoise.
From the video entries, 10 choirs will be selected to compete in person on Saturday, Nov. 9, at the Pensacola High School auditorium. The gospel competition event will be held from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. with performances by Sing Harlem and the local praise dance troupe Soulful Movement: Spirit of Excellence, food trucks, and a brief film screening of the PBS documentary “Gospel” from Henry Louis Gates Jr. — the original impetus for the overall gospel celebration.
WSRE PBS will round out the weekend-long celebration with a gospel brunch, featuring event headliner Sing Harlem in concert, on Sunday, Nov. 10, from 12 p.m. to 2 p.m. The menu will be curated by Brother Fox Executive Chef Darian Hernandez and served, church social style, on the lawn at Lily Hall — the boutique hotel whose landmark structure was built in 1928 for the Mount Olive Baptist Church congregation. Tickets will be $125 and on sale beginning Sept. 10. (Update 9/9/24: Brunch tickets go on sale Oct. 1.) Sunday best attire is suggested.
Event information and updates can be found at wsre.org/events or foofoofest.com.
###
About Sing Harlem: Sing Harlem is a choir and social impact initiative for young people who have graduated from the Mama Foundation for the Arts’ music training program. The choir is led by Ahmaya Knoelle Higginson. Sing Harlem performs at prestigious venues nationwide and all proceeds from their events and performances benefit the Mama Foundation’s tuition-free music training programs for the Harlem community. The choir has performed on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon,” “Saturday Night Live,” “The View,” “Good Morning America,” “America’s Got Talent,” “The Kelly Clarkson Show,” and the Grammy Awards. In March 2024, Sing Harlem received a standing ovation from the audience and a “YES” from all three judges on “America’s Got Talent” for their performance of “Amazing Grace.”
About Foo Foo Fest: Foo Foo Fest is a 12-day celebration each fall, with culturally creative happenings, events and moments under one banner, attracting visitors to Pensacola. The 2024 festival takes place from October 31 through November 11.
About WSRE: WSRE, a PBS member station licensed to the Pensacola State College District Board of Trustees and supported by the WSRE-TV Foundation, serves as a critical media source for trusted content and a safe media space for children to grow and learn.