Notable Quotable of the Week


"We mean to lift up the youth through history and music, passing the music on from generation to generation"- Vy Higginsen, Founder of GFT

Auditions 2007

If you can sing or think you can

Vy Higginsen, of Mama, I Want to Sing

invites you to

Audition!!!

for the Gospel for Teens

SCHOLARSHIP CLASS & CHOIR

Audition Dates: 2007

Saturday Sept. 8, 1 to 3 pm
Saturday Sept. 15, 1 to 3 pm
Friday Sept. 21, 4 to 8 pm
Saturday Sept. 22, 1 to 3 pm

To prepare for auditions select one or two traditional gospel standards (i.e., His Eye is on the Sparrow, Yes Jesus Loves Me) to sing a cappella.

The Mama Foundation for the Arts
149 West 126th Street Harlem, (bet 7th & Lenox)

212.280.1045
http:http://www.mamafoundation.org/
http:www.myspace.com/gospelforteens

From generation to generation,
Passing the music on!

"DATES TO REMEMBER"

Gospel for Teens Fall Calendar 2007

Sunday, September 2
Labor Day Weekend
Philadelphia Day Trip
Mount Airy Cultural Center
Depart New York at 6 a.m.
Depart Philadelphia at 2 p.m

Saturday, September 29
First Day of Class
Mama Foundation

Gospel For Teens: About Us

Gospel for Teens, a program of The Mama Foundation for the Arts School of the Gospel, Jazz and R&B Arts has grown to be one of the most recognized and respected programs in New York City. Under the direction of the Foundation’s seasoned music masters: Markanthony Henry, Greg Kelly, Dejahnee Richardson, and Knoelle Higginsen; Gospel for Teens has performed at various venues across New York City including the world famous Apollo Theater, the American Museum of Natural History, and St. Paul Community Baptist Church. Gospel for Teens has also been featured by Fox 5 News, New York 1 News, NBC News’ ‘Family Matters’ segment, The New York Times, The New York Daily News and other local and national publications.

The Gospel for Teens program is unique in its combined vocal fundamentals and gospel history training, as well as its live performance aspect. Key programmatic outcomes include: 1) the students’ enhanced training in fundamental vocal techniques; 2) a basic historical framework and present-day context regarding the influence that the African American gospel tradition has had on other musical genres—including jazz, R&B, and hip-hop, thus preserving an important American & African American folk music tradition; and 3) creating opportunities to reduce the students’ performance-anxiety by having them perform in front of live audiences throughout and at the end of each semester.

Participants will be selected to learn music history and vocal techniques such as placement, breathing, harmony, pitch and control in classes held on-site at the Foundation’s renovated Harlem brownstone. Students will also be encouraged to discover their personal artistic talent and expressions while building self-confidence on stage and off. “We mean to lift up the youth with history and gospel music!” says the Foundation’s founder and Executive Director, Vy Higginsen. “And I am proud to announce that the artistic consultant for Gospel for Teens is a living legend - Dr. Cissy Houston.”

Stressing artistic discipline and commitment, the Gospel for Teens music masters nurture musical talent by providing individual musical assessments, teaching new and established music in the Foundation’s Traveling Theatre’s repertoire, and dialoguing about the role Gospel music has played in history and in their current lives.