As Pastor Marichal Monts led the Ebony Singers this past Monday, he filled Crowell Concert Hall not only with the sound of music, but with clapping and dancing, as well. One of the more popular concerts on campus, the Ebony Singers traditionally sells out over a month in advance of the show. Songs included this year were “Free One Day,” “More Abundantly,” “The Light,” “Be Blessed” and crowd favorite “Jesus.”
Unfortunately, perennial favorites “I Will Follow Him” and “Oh Happy Day” weren’t included in the program. Sister Mary Clarence (Whoopi Goldberg’s popular role in “Sister Act”) was missed by all.
Pastor Monts, an alumnus of the University who majored in music, preached to the choir between songs and spoke to the audience as well. The message was one of love: love your neighbor, and the world will be a better place. Alicia Collen ’08 vouched for the Pastor’s abilities.
“Pastor Monts brought this contagious energy to the stage that made us so excited to be standing up on stage and belt out Gospel songs,” she said.
Monts asked the audience to focus on the good in their lives and encouraged everyone to enjoy themselves and sing along.
Members of the choir take “Ebony Singers: Gospel Music” as a class in the Music Department. It is billed on WesMaps as “a study of black religious music through the media of performance. The areas of study will consist of traditional gospel, contemporary gospel, spirituals, and hymns in the black tradition.” Ebony Singers fits this description, but is also much more. Collen described her experience as a reliable boon to each week.
“For some reason, really crappy things kept happening to me on Mondays, and this course was my saving grace,” she said. “It was so uplifting. I walked out of class every Monday night feeling much happier and better about life. This is the first course at Wesleyan that I felt I needed every week. There wasn’t a class that I didn’t look forward to attending. It was the perfect way to start a week.”
Monday’s concert featured a solo performance by Monts’ godson, Stephen Wilson, who is also a choir director, as well as a songwriter and producer. Wilson has been singing since he was young, and his powerful performance wowed the audience.
It was hard to tell who was having more fun: the singers or the crowd. Katie Poor ’08 commented on the interactive experience.
“Being in the audience for Ebony was really remarkable, because it obviously is an experience that brings together a lot of different kinds of people,” she said. “Although, as a gospel choir, it clearly had a Christian focus, its message was wide-reaching and really inclusive. It made me want to try out next semester. It’s just too bad I can’t sing.”
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