Bethany Baptist Church: Mary Lou William's Mass For Peace All Day, 10/16

Bethany Baptist Church: Homecoming Celebration!
Mary Lou William's Mass For Peace
All Day October 16th
275 Market Street Newark, NJ
973 623-8161

The Bethany Mass Choir, featuring George Shirley, Carmen Lundy, Dwight Andrews,
Howard University's Afro-Blue Jazz Chorus, Eric Talley, Maurice chestnut, Kenny Davis, Kassa Overall, and Geri Allen performing Mary Lou's Mass.  Bethany Baptist Church, the first Baptist Church founded by African-Americans in Newark, will celebrate the annual church Homecoming and honor it's distinguished spiritual leader, Rev. Dr. M. William Howard, Jr., on his 10th pastoral anniversary.

BETHANY BAPTIST CHURCH SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

OCTOBER 16, 2010
http://www.bethany-newark.org/index.html  

12:30pm UNIVERSITY HEIGHTS CHARTER SCHOOL (AT BETHANY)

WBGO HOSTS

"THE WBGO CHILDREN'S CONCERT SERIES"

GERI ALLEN AND HER TRIO WILL PRESENT A PROGRAM FOR CHILDREN AND FAMILIES CELEBRATING Mary Lou Williams' 100TH BIRTHDAY.

SPECIAL GUESTS: VOCALIST CARMEN LUNDY, and TAP DANCER Maurice chESTNUT WILL PRESENT A PROGRAM CONSISTING OF SOUND, FILM, WORDS AND DANCE, INSPIRED BY Mary Lou Williams.

4:30PM
REVEREND Dwight Andrews, Pastor of the First Congregational Church in Atlanta and Professor of Music at Emory University, PRESENTS A PAPER ON "Jazz and Spirituality."

6:00PM
A SPECIAL PROGRAM WITH GERI ALLEN & HER TRIO WITH featured GUESTS: VOCALISTS GEORGE SHIRLEY & CARMEN LUNDY, SAXOPHONIST Dwight Andrews, TAP DANCER Maurice chESTNUT, WITH THE BETHANY BAPTIST CHURCH'S MASS CHOIR and Afro-Blue, Howard University's Award Winning Jazz Chorus. THEY WILL PERFORM MARY LOU'S MASS.

A RECEPTION AND MEET-THE-ARTISTS, HOSTED BY THE JAZZ VESPERS COMMITTEE, WILL FOLLOW THE PERFORMANCE.!!

Special Thanks To

Dr. Howard, the Mass Choir, Bethany Home Coming Committee, The Jazz Vespers Committee, WBGO, the Mary Lou Williams Foundation, and the Klavierhaus, NYC.

ALL EVENTS FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC.

Rev. Dr. M. William Howard, Jr.

From his early life in Americus, Georgia to the present, M. William Howard, Jr. has sought to apply his faith toward transforming the human condition.

As the elected youth leader of the Sumter County (GA) Voters League in 1961, he was engaged in the first massive voter education and registration drive in Southwest Georgia. As a national staff member of the (Dutch) Reformed Church in America; as Moderator of the Programme to Combat Racism of the World Council of Churches; as President of the National Council of Churches; and as President of the American Committee on Africa, he was deeply involved in a wide-range of Human Rights and anti-colonial campaigns in the US, Southern Africa, the Middle East, Latin America and Asia.

He was denied visas to South Africa until after Nelson Mandela was released in 1990; in 1979, with the late Dr. William Sloane Coffin, Bishop Thomas Gumbleton and the late Leon-Etienne Cardinal Duval, he ministered to US personnel being held hostage in Iran; and with The Reverend Jesse Jackson, he helped to secure the release of US Navy pilot, Robert O. Goodman from Syria.

Having spent much of the 70's and 80's focusing upon international affairs, in 1992 he turned to more domestic concerns when he assumed the presidency of New York
Theological Seminary, a graduate school of theological education devoted to leadership development for church workers in the New York metropolitan region. During his tenure at the Seminary, NYTS implemented joint programs with two area universities in Social Work and Urban Education, and was granted the Award for Excellence by the Arthur Vining Davis Foundations.

Dr. Howard was called to pastor Bethany Baptist Church in Newark, NJ in 2000, where for him the challenges facing residents in America's third oldest city have become
central.
Bethany Cares, Inc., founded shortly after his tenure began in Newark, is a community-development corporation that enhances the church's outreach capacity, and currently serves families and young people from all walks of life, including those who are incarcerated.

Dr. Howard has served on the boards of the National Urban League, The Independent Sector, and The Children's Defense Fund, among others. He chaired Newark Mayor
Cory Booker's transition team; and he chaired the NJ Death Penalty Study Commission, which led to the State of NJ becoming the first state to abolish the death penalty since it
was reauthorized by the US Supreme Court in 1976. He is a founding member of the Newark Community Foundation and Chair of the Rutgers University Board of Governors.

He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and has received numerous citations, awards, honorary degrees and keys to cities. In February 2008, he received the Bennie Award for Achievement, named for famed Morehouse College president, Dr. Benjamin E. Mays, whose autobiography, Born to Rebel, Dr. Howard helped to
research.

Dr. Howard is an ordained minister in the American Baptist Churches, USA, a graduate of Morehouse and Princeton Theological Seminary, and he and his wife, the former
Barbara J. Wright, married in 1970. They are the parents of three adult children.

A WORD FROM PASTOR . . . . .

"To Remain Firmly Opposed to Apartheid Madness"
From the Archives of The New York Times.

This year's Bethany Homecoming will also be a joyful celebration of the music of the great Mary Lou Williams, whose centennial celebration has been taking place around the
country for the past 2 years, beginning last year at Jazz@Lincoln Center. Mary Lou Williams' Mass For Peace has recently been performed at the Kennedy Center, and at the The MLW Fall Festival Weekend in Madison. The Mass will now be performed at Bethany Baptist Church in Newark, NJ, on October 16th.

This celebration will feature Bethany's own Mass Choir under the direction of it's directors, Lillian Whitaker, and Rodney Smith.

Bethany's Mass Choir will be joined by icon George Shirley, the first African-American tenor to sing for the Metropolitan Opera, Professor Emeritus from the School of Music Theatre and Dance at the University of Michigan, and Detroit native.

Ms. Carmen Lundy, composer, educator, and one of the most admired contemporary Jazz Vocalists/Composers of our time. Ms Lundy has performed the Mass at the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C., and arranged "I Have A Dream", composed Mary Lou Williams in honor of DR. Martin Luther King Jr. Ms. Lundy has just returned from a successful solo tour of the Ukraine, London, and Munich.

Rev. Dr. Dwight Andrews, a University of Michigan and Yale Graduate, composer of the music for many of August Wilson's plays on Broadway, music specialist on Stravinsky, theorist, educator, multi- reedist, and respected scholar, is also a native of Detroit. Rev. Dr Andrews has been a Professor on the faculty of Emory College since 1987. Reverend Andrews is the Senior Minister of the First Congregational United Church of Christ in Atlanta.

Howard University's Award winning, Afro-Blue, recently performed for the Congressional Black Caucus Celebration in Washington D.C., and also performed in this year's Mary Lou Williams Centennial Celebration at the Kennedy Center.

Kenny Davis, is a veteran of the New York and international Jazz scenes, and the former bassist of the Tonight Show. Mr. Davis has recently released a critically acclaimed self-titled solo CD. Mr. Davis is also a Professor of Music at Princeton University.

Geri Allen, Jazz Pianist and Professor of Jazz and Contemporary Improvisation at the SMTD, at the University of Michigan, will also be performing, by invitation from Bethany members Dorthaan Kirk and Linda Epps. Ms. Allen performs in great appreciation of Dr. Howard, the Mass Choir and the entire Bethany Family.

Geri Allen's stellar trio includes drummer Kassa Overall, a recent graduate of Oberlin College, and dynamic new star on the horizon. Kassa is making his mark on the New York Jazz Scene, as is Newark's own Maurice chestnut, the brilliant young tap dancer who performs internationally with Deborah Mitchell's NJ Tap Dance Ensemble, and Savion Glover. Maurice was also invited by Ms. Jessye Norman to perform in the "Honor" Series @ Carnegie Hall. Both these young men represent the very exciting future of Jazz.

Rev. Dr. Dwight Andrews will also be presenting a scholarly paper on Jazz and Spirituality and reading excerpts from his anticipated book at 4:30.

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