DOORS 5:30PM • SHOWTIME 6:30PM
The Vogel • Basie Center Campus • 99 Monmouth Street, Red Bank
“Peace is necessary. For justice, it is necessary. For hope, it is necessary, for our future. Movements don’t die, because struggle doesn’t die.”
~ Harry Belafonte
The quote above was delivered by Mr. Belafonte to Richard Cummings, who had just been appointed as Belafonte’s music director. He continued, “I want to sing every song I’ve ever sung but I don’t want to hear them the same way.”
On this evening, the Count Basie Center Gospel Choir will pay tribute to Harry Belafonte by featuring his music, along with his music director Richard Cummings and the Belafonte Singers.
Led by Director Gwen Moten and Music Director Dr. B. Dexter Allgood, the Count Basie Center Gospel Choir will present songs and stories of inspiration. With the goal of spreading awareness of world issues, the choir will be joined by guests of the community to spread messages, stories, and songs that inspire peace, healing, and unity.
The Count Basie Center Gospel Choir is headed by Music Director Gwen Moten and assistant music director Dr. B Dexter Allgood, designed as a community initiative open to interested performers in New Jersey and surrounding areas. Moten, whose resume includes international presentations and appointments in Newark, the United Nations, the White House and elsewhere, believes the Basie Center Gospel Choir will be an engaging cultural and artistic offering, designed to develop a holistic and cultural ecology throughout the Basie Center community and beyond.
