Please join us for The Afro 498 WS Campus-Community Class as we host our Annual End of Semester Concert on Monday Evening, April 30 at 7:00 pm, in the Sanctuary of Salem Baptist Church, 500 E. Park Street, Champaign.  The concert is free; music and special project from the African American Sacred Music tradition will be performed by select community artists and class participants.

Some of the featured talent will be the Afro 498 Singers, some select community singers, a women’s ensemble and other soloists such as Noah I. Brown, Ponce Palmer, Davion Williams, former Chorale Young Artist Winner, Luanna W. Donald, Marilyn Thadison, James Johnson and newly Recording Artist, Dr. Phoebe Lenear.

Two other major highlights of the evening will be the performance of the  famous piano solo “Juba Dance” from the “In the Bottoms Suite”, written by the famous African American Composer, Nathaniel Dett.  This will be performed by one of the third year students in the class, Mr. Ray Wiggs, Organist, First United Methodist Church of Champaign.  The other major piece performed  will be “Agnus Dei”(Lamb of God) from the Gospel Mass, written by  Professor Robert Ray, former string coach, soloist with the CU Symphony, and the Original Director of the famed University of Illinois Black Chorus. Other Composers featured in the program will be the music of Richard Smallwood, Rickey Dillard, Kurt Kaiser, Margaret Bond, JS Bach, Minister Eddie Robinson, Andrae Crouch, and A. Jeffery LaValley.