Richard Smallwood celebrated in Anthem of Praise concert

  • Concert hall marquee
    College Street Music Hall marquee. Photo by Harold Shapiro.
  • Richard Smallwood posing
    Richard Smallwood. Photo by Harold Shapiro.
  • Choir singing
    Vision. Photo by Harold Shapiro.
  • Choir singing
    Vision. Photo by Harold Shapiro.
  • Choir singing
    Vision. Photo by Harold Shapiro.
  • Richard Smallwood cheering
    Richard Smallwood. Photo by Harold Shapiro.
  • Braxton Shelley speaking
    Professor Braxton Shelley. Photo by Harold Shapiro.
  • Donald Lawrence. Photo by Harold Shapiro.
  • Karen Clark Sheard singing
    Karen Clark Sheard. Photo by Harold Shapiro.
  • Karen Clark Sheard singing with choir
    Karen Clark Sheard with Vision. Photo by Harold Shapiro.
  • Karen Clark Sheard singing
    Karen Clark Sheard. Photo by Harold Shapiro.
  • John Holiday singing with choir
    John Holiday with Vision. Photo by Harold Shapiro.
  • John Holiday singing
    John Holiday. Photo by Harold Shapiro.
  • John Holiday singing
    John Holiday. Photo by Harold Shapiro.
  • BeBe Winans singing
    BeBe Winans. Photo by Harold Shapiro.
  • BeBe Winans singing
    BeBe Winans. Photo by Harold Shapiro.
  • BeBe Winans singing
    BeBe Winans. Photo by Harold Shapiro.
  • Braxton Shelley speaking
    Professor Braxton Shelley. Photo by Harold Shapiro.
  • Donald Lawrence speaking
    Donald Lawrence. Photo by Harold Shapiro.
  • Richard Smallwood watching concert
    Richard Smallwood. Photo by Harold Shapiro.
  • Lady Tramaine Hawkins singing
    Lady Tramaine Hawkins. Photo by Harold Shapiro.
  • Lady Tramaine Hawkins singing
    Lady Tramaine Hawkins. Photo by Harold Shapiro.
  • Lady Tramaine Hawkins singing with piano and choir
    Lady Tramaine Hawkins with Joseph Joubert (piano) and Vision. Photo by Harold Shapiro.
  • The Walls Group singing
    The Walls Group. Photo by Harold Shapiro.
  • The Walls Group singing
    The Walls Group. Photo by Harold Shapiro.
  • The Walls Group singing
    The Walls Group. Photo by Harold Shapiro.
  • Joseph Joubert performing on piano
    Joseph Joubert. Photo by Harold Shapiro.
  • Joseph Joubert plays piano with choir
    Vision with Joseph Joubert (piano). Photo by Harold Shapiro.
  • Braxton Shelley and Donald Lawrence speak in front of choir
    Professor Braxton Shelley, Donald Lawrence, Vision, and Community Choir. Photo by Harold Shapiro.
  • Choir singing
    Vision and Community Choir. Photo by Harold Shapiro.
  • Choir singing
    Community Choir. Photo by Harold Shapiro.

On April 19, College Street Music Hall hosted an evening celebrating the music of Richard Smallwood, curated by Donald Lawrence and hosted by Professor Braxton Shelley. Gospel luminaries Tramaine Hawkins, Karen Clark Sheard, BeBe Winans, The Walls Group, John Holiday, and Joseph Joubert joined forces with Smallwood’s ensemble Vision and a New Haven-area community choir to resound some of the most treasured pieces of contemporary gospel music, including “Angels,” “Bless The Lord,” “Secret Place,” “Thank You,” and “Total Praise.”

View the full concert video.

The event was presented by the ISM’s Interdisciplinary Program in Music and the Black Church and was cosponsored by the following schools and departments at Yale: Degraffenreidt Resource Fund and 320Y Fund, Faculty of Arts and Sciences Dean’s Office, Yale Divinity School, Yale School of Music, Yale University Chaplains Office, Yale University Office of Diversity & Inclusion, Yale School of Art, The David Geffen School of Drama at Yale, Yale School of Medicine, Yale School of the Environment, Department of Religious Studies, Department of English, Department of Music, Department of African American Studies, Afro-American Cultural Center, Whitney Humanities Center, Theater and Performance Studies, Office of Belonging at Yale, and the Yale Schwarzman Center.