One of the most anticipated music festivals in the run-up to Christmas, The greats of the Gospelcelebrates its 30th anniversary this year at the Fernán Gómez Theater. The Villa Cultural Center, which, as the main venue of the event, consolidates itself as the home of gospel in Madrid and the main reference in the genre circuit in Spain. From November 28 to December 14, the Salle Guirau will host a program which summarizes what this very spiritual cycle has been throughout these three decades.
The word of God (“Godspell”) in the form of music will begin to resonate from November 28 to December 1 (daily at 8 p.m.) with New Orleans Gospel Choirwho arrive with a show entitled “Streets Of New Orleans” which traces the musical history of one of the emblematic cities of international music. The concert program, which will premiere at “Grandes del Gospel” at Christmas 2023, recreates the old anthems of the genre with a selection of great hits rooted in the city, and gives visibility to Jazz Funeral, a subgenre performed solemnly along the way. to the cemetery and back to the city, which has its origins in the spirituals that congregations sang in churches.
On December 3, 4, 5 and 6 (8 p.m.) “Hope” is presented by The Soweto gospel choirformed in Soweto (South Africa) by David Mulovhedzi and Beverly Bryer with producers Andrew Kay, David Vigo and Cliff Hocking to fuse elements of African gospel, Black Spirituals, reggae and American popular music. The ensemble won the Grammy Award for Best Traditional World Music Album in 2006, 2007 and 2019, and performed on the South African leg of Live Earth in 2007 and at the presentation ceremony of the 2010 World Cup in Cape Town.
The famous The Mississippi Mass Choir will arrive with ‘The Gospel Legend Tour’ on December 7, 8, 10 and 11 (8 p.m., the 8th also at 5:30 p.m.). Founded in 1988 by Frank Williams, a member of the Jackson Southernaires and executive director of Malaco Records’ gospel division, the choir recorded its first album that same year at Jackson Municipal Auditorium, and in the spring of 1989, with only five weeks on the market, reached number one on Billboard’s gospel music chart. They were also voted Choir of the Year and Best New Artist of the Year at the James Cleveland Convention in New Orleans and were honored at the Stellar Awards in four categories, a perfect prelude to a lineup that would eventually make world its stage, being the first gospel group to perform on the Acropolis of Athens and to sing for Pope John Paul II at his summer residence.
From December 12 to 14 (8 p.m., the 13th also at 5:30 p.m.), The South Carolina Gospel Choir will present ‘Tina Turner’s Happy Days’, a tribute to the figure of this popular music legend on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the recording of ‘The Gospel According to Ike & Tina Turner’. The concert repertoire, led by Rev. Michael Brown, will include a selection of songs from the album, some of the great singer’s hits and gospel classics performed with South Carolina’s unmistakable soul style.
Finally, on December 14 at 5:30 p.m. you can enjoy the show ‘Oh Madrid, have a good day!which will feature the Escolanía de El Escorial with the special collaboration of the great singer Bridget Bazile, acclaimed in major theaters around the world and recognized as one of the most prominent voices of her generation in the field of Negro Spiritual.
