The goal of the Music and the Black Church initiative is to organize and expand the scholarly attention paid to the music of the Black Church and to this tradition’s extraordinary influence on a host of musical cultures—confessional and commercial, American and global.
Music and the Black Church Events
Featured Events
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Meditating on the Black Gospel Tradition
A celebration to launch Music and the Black Church and the publication of Braxton D. Shelley’s Healing for the Soul: Richard Smallwood, the Vamp, and the Gospel Imagination.
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Celebration of the Gospel
Lawrence and Bohanan performed to a packed house at the Immanuel Missionary Baptist Church in New Haven, alongside a community choir drawn from the New Haven area.
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An Evening with the Legendary Clark Sisters
On April 14, 2022, Yale Institute of Sacred Music was thrilled to host the legendary Clark Sisters for a concert, symposium, and masterclass.
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In the Sanctuary Symposium
This inaugural Symposium is an opportunity to experience the rich musical traditions that fill sanctuaries and give sanctuary: spirituals and gospels, hymns and anthems, praise and worship.
Event Listing
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Past Event: Anthem of Praise: A Salute to Richard Smallwood
Join us for an evening celebrating the music of Richard Smallwood.
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Past Event: ART(est)IMONY: A Night of Song
A time of fellowship where participants will be revived by the rich and robust range of Black Sacred music repertoire.
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Past Event: Ministering Through the Arts: Tradition and Innovation
Yale ISM’s program Music and the Black Church invites you to a public and livestreamed conversation.
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Past Event: “Losing my Religion: “I Don’t Have Religion, I Have Relationship”: A Fellow's lunch talk
Join us for a lunch talk with Yale Institute of Sacred Music fellow, Cory Hunter.
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Past Event: Celebrating the poetry of Langston Hughes
A concert celebrating the poetry of Langston Hughes!
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Past Event: An Evening with The Clark Sisters
An evening with the legendary Clark Sisters, a group that has been on the vanguard of gospel music for more than half a century!
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Past Event: “Eternal Gain”: A Symposium on Dr. Mattie Moss Clark and the Clark Sisters
A daylong meditation on the distinctive musical, spiritual, and cultural contributions of Dr. Clark and the Clark Sisters.
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Past Event: "Singing the Lord's Songs in a Strange Land and Times: A Black History and Lenten Commemoration"
This event explores one of many musical journeys of a people stolen from their land and find themselves holding to their faith.
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Past Event: A Celebration of Gospel featuring Donald Lawrence & Company and Vincent Bohanan & SOV
Join us for an evening of music that spans generations and unites multiple threads of the rich tapestry that is black gospel music.
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Past Event: The Ministry of Song: A Conversation with Donald Lawrence
Join us for this special open class session of Professor Braxton D. Shelley’s course on “The Musicality of Black Preaching.”
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Our online newsletter reflects on recent programming and upcoming events for this initiative.
