AURORA #- Music has the power to touch the soul and make people move more than just their feet. That is a belief held by many musicians, among them L. Kirk Hatcher, of Miami, Fla., and Edward “Chief” A. Menifee Jr., of Atlanta, Ga.
The two are heading up the seventh annual Gospel Choir Concert at Barler Recital Hall at Wells College Saturday night.
“This is a way for people to have a communion with God,” Menifee, a pianist, said. “I hope that this is something that will inspire people to seek that out much more often. When you have things like this, God does show up. I hope that this will help provide an impetus for people to seek that out more often.”
Hatcher and Menifee go back a long way. The two first met when Hatcher was a sophomore in college and Menifee was a young member of the youth choir in Atlanta.
“One of my professors was also his pastor,” Hatcher said. “He asked me to help organize the youth choir. That's when I met Chief and his siblings. They were all incredibly talented.”
Working with Hatcher proved to be an important experience for Menifee.
“I started playing piano,” Menifee said. “And I emulated a lot of what I saw Kirk doing. I went and played football and basketball and baseball and got away from piano for a while, but I got back to it a littler later.”
Meanwhile, Hatcher went on to Emory College where he encountered Reverend Karen Green, who was a grad student at the time while Hatcher was teaching. Green asked Hatcher if it might be possible to find a means by which to share Gospel music with the people of Emory and the surrounding area.
Hatcher, who said his main focus has been on vocal arranging, said that he has largely avoided music on the collegiate level, because Gospel music had been overlooked or misunderstood, but he saw Green's request as a way to change that idea.
“There is a lot of improvisation,” Hatcher said. “Like jazz. But it was the music I grew up with, which to me
was something truly spiritual. It is something that critics kind of overlooked, but I thought Karen had a great idea.“
Hatcher worked on creating a way to create a firsthand gospel experience that would get school choirs as well
as people from the community involved in the performance as much more than spectators, but as singers.
Unlike so many other forms of music, Hatcher believes that gospel can truly breakdown the walls between
performer and audience.
“With an audience you are there to perform and entertain,” Hatcher said. “But with gospel you are a congregation with the singers and performers and audience all participating in the whole experience.”
Since starting this, Hatcher has gone on to take the program with a great deal of success to schools such
as Hamilton College, Smith College, Wesley and of course Wells.
After a few early performances he brought in his old friend, Menifee, to accompany him on piano.
“My joy has always been vocal arrangements,” Hatcher said. “I play keyboards a bit, but he is so incredibly
talented and he can help with the arrangements with vocals and work with the other musicians as well.“
At each school the two visit, they have just a handful of hours to rehearse with choir members as well as
volunteer singers from the community to arrange and rehearse a full concert of gospel music.
“You get a lot of different people,” Hatcher said. “You have to do this with a great deal of humility.
I'll model the parts for everyone. But the more we do this the more interest there is and the more people we get that have a feel for the music.“
Saturday will mark their seventh year performing at Wells, an experience that has only improved over time.
“We usually have a packed house,” Menifee said. “It is just so much fun to sing.”
Menifee is a minister of music operations at his church in Atlanta, while Hatcher is an English teacher
at a private school in Atlanta.
So these performances give both men the opportunity to stay active in their passion for music. A passion they hope their performance will open others eyes to.
“It is a unique form of worship,” Hatcher said. “I hope that people take that with them, that they can
see the value of that and understand the joy of being a part of something like that.“
“This is a way for people to have a communion with God,” Menifee, a pianist, said. “I hope that this is something that will inspire people to seek that out much more often. When you have things like this, God does show up. I hope that this will help provide an impetus for people to seek that out more often.”
Hatcher and Menifee go back a long way. The two first met when Hatcher was a sophomore in college and Menifee was a young member of the youth choir in Atlanta.
“One of my professors was also his pastor,” Hatcher said. “He asked me to help organize the youth choir. That's when I met Chief and his siblings. They were all incredibly talented.”
Working with Hatcher proved to be an important experience for Menifee.
“I started playing piano,” Menifee said. “And I emulated a lot of what I saw Kirk doing. I went and played football and basketball and baseball and got away from piano for a while, but I got back to it a littler later.”
Meanwhile, Hatcher went on to Emory College where he encountered Reverend Karen Green, who was a grad student at the time while Hatcher was teaching. Green asked Hatcher if it might be possible to find a means by which to share Gospel music with the people of Emory and the surrounding area.
Hatcher, who said his main focus has been on vocal arranging, said that he has largely avoided music on the collegiate level, because Gospel music had been overlooked or misunderstood, but he saw Green's request as a way to change that idea.
“There is a lot of improvisation,” Hatcher said. “Like jazz. But it was the music I grew up with, which to me
was something truly spiritual. It is something that critics kind of overlooked, but I thought Karen had a great idea.“
Hatcher worked on creating a way to create a firsthand gospel experience that would get school choirs as well
as people from the community involved in the performance as much more than spectators, but as singers.
Unlike so many other forms of music, Hatcher believes that gospel can truly breakdown the walls between
performer and audience.
“With an audience you are there to perform and entertain,” Hatcher said. “But with gospel you are a congregation with the singers and performers and audience all participating in the whole experience.”
Since starting this, Hatcher has gone on to take the program with a great deal of success to schools such
as Hamilton College, Smith College, Wesley and of course Wells.
After a few early performances he brought in his old friend, Menifee, to accompany him on piano.
“My joy has always been vocal arrangements,” Hatcher said. “I play keyboards a bit, but he is so incredibly
talented and he can help with the arrangements with vocals and work with the other musicians as well.“
At each school the two visit, they have just a handful of hours to rehearse with choir members as well as
volunteer singers from the community to arrange and rehearse a full concert of gospel music.
“You get a lot of different people,” Hatcher said. “You have to do this with a great deal of humility.
I'll model the parts for everyone. But the more we do this the more interest there is and the more people we get that have a feel for the music.“
Saturday will mark their seventh year performing at Wells, an experience that has only improved over time.
“We usually have a packed house,” Menifee said. “It is just so much fun to sing.”
Menifee is a minister of music operations at his church in Atlanta, while Hatcher is an English teacher
at a private school in Atlanta.
So these performances give both men the opportunity to stay active in their passion for music. A passion they hope their performance will open others eyes to.
“It is a unique form of worship,” Hatcher said. “I hope that people take that with them, that they can
see the value of that and understand the joy of being a part of something like that.“
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