FESTIVAL OF PRAISE 2018 Concert | Fred Hammond, Donnie McClurkin, Take Six, James Fortune & Charles Jenkins at Lehman Center for the Performing arts

Lehman Center for the Performing Arts proudly presents, in their only New York City appearance, the FESTIVAL OF PRAISE gospel concert on Sunday, April 29th, 2018 at 6pm. This year’s performances, the fourth year of the FESTIVAL OF PRAISE TOUR, is titled TEXTURE OF A MAN, and promises to be an evening of soul-stirring music that will feature Fred Hammond, Donnie McClurkin, Take 6, James Fortune, and Pastor Charles Jenkins.
Lehman Center for the Performing Arts is on the campus of Lehman College/CUNY at 250 Bedford Park Boulevard West, Bronx, NY 10468. Tickets for the FESTIVAL OF PRAISE on Sunday, April 29th, 2018 at 6pm are $100, $75, $65, and $35, and can be purchased by calling the Lehman Center box office at 718-960-8833 (Monday through Friday, 10am–5pm and beginning at 2pm on the day of the concert), or through online access at www.LehmanCenter.org. Lehman Center is accessible by #4 or D train to Bedford Park Blvd. and is off the Saw Mill River Parkway and the Major Deegan Expressway. Low-cost on-site parking is available for $5.
FRED HAMMOND is a Detroit, Michigan born GRAMMY, Stellar, and Dove Award-winning gospel singer, songwriter, filmmaker, and multi-platinum producer that has sold over 15 million albums worldwide, which have included over twelve #1 hits reaching both gold and platinum status. Chance the Rapper recently released a remake of Hammond’s song “Are You Ready” and Jamie Foxx sang his song “No Weapon” during his NAACP Awards acceptance speech. Hammond is considered a Christian music icon whose music reaches people from all walks of life. He first gained recognition as a vocalist and the bass guitar player for the gospel group The Winans. which included the Rev. Marvin Winans and was discovered by Andraé Crouch. Joining the group Commissioned in 1985, Hammond recorded the album I’m Going On, the first of ten albums he recorded with them. In 1991, Hammond released his first “solo” album I Am Persuaded, which combined up-tempo R&B, soul, and new jack swing musical elements within a core gospel sound. The record remained on Billboard’s Top Gospel Albums chart for 29 weeks, peaking at the #11 spot. Forming his own gospel group Radical for Christ in 1995, he released the group’s first album The Inner Court. Hammond released his most recent album Worship Journal Live in 2016, which features the popular single “Father Jesus Spirit”. Hammond is currently working on a film that will be released on social media titled The Choir.
DONNIE McCLURKIN is a multiple GRAMMY, Stellar, BET, Dove, and NAACP award winner gospel singer, pastor, and radio and television host that was born into a large family on Long Island, NY. At the age of nine, McClurkin became an active member of his local church, started to sing with local gospel choirs, and was influenced by his aunt, who sang backgrounds vocals with gospel singer Andraé Crouch, who became McClurkin’s Christian and musical mentor. As a teenager he formed the McClurkin Singers with four of his sisters and four of their friends, and later he formed the New York Restoration Choir, performing on street corners and in prisons. When he was 24 years old, he met Rev. Marvin Winans, who invited him to join him in the ministry in Detroit. Six years later, in 1989, McClurkin moved to Detroit and became an associate minister at Winans’ Perfecting Church. Through Winans, he was able to secure a recording contract and released his first album, Donnie McClurkin, in 1996, which went Gold, reaching #4 on the Billboard Gospel chart, and included the songs “Stand”, “Speak To My Heart”, and the gospel classic “Holy, Holy, Holy”. The next year he released Live in London and More… which went to #1 on the Billboard Gospel chart. In 1998, he wrote and sang the songs “I Am” and “Humanity” for the soundtrack of the Dreamworks animated film The Prince of Egypt. In 1999 McClurkin felt the call to the ministry and held his first, unofficial service of the Faith Perfecting Church for 400 people on Long Island, NY. In 2001, he was ordained as a Pastor by Rev. Winans and the Faith Perfecting Church became an official ministry in Freeport, NY, growing to about 3,000 members today. In 2007, he started his Christian radio show, The Donnie McClurkin Show, which is syndicated nationwide. Dubed the “Reigning King of urban gospel” by Variety, McClurkin has sold over 10 million albums worldwide. His most recent album, The Journey (Live), was released in 2016.
TAKE 6 is an a cappella sextet with roots in gospel, doo wop, and mid-century American jazz singing that was formed under the name Alliance, on the campus of Oakwood College in Huntsville, Alabama. After signing with Warner Brothers, they changed their name to Take 6, and released their self-titled first album, Take 6, in 1998 which went Platinum, reaching the top ten in both the Billboard Contemporary Jazz and Contemporary Christian charts, winning them three GRAMMY Awards and three Dove Awards for their swinging, harmony-rich vocals. During their career, they have been honored with multiple GRAMMY, Dove, Soul Train, and NAACP Image awards and nominations, and for seven consecutive years acknowledged as the Best Jazz Vocal Group in Downbeat’s prestigious Reader’s and Critic’s Poll. Their 2016 release Believe, reached the top ten for both the gospel and jazz charts and included the joyous and dazzling songs “Reset” and “You Make Me Happy”, as well as the inspirational “When Angels Cry”.
JAMES FORTUNE was raised in the church where his father was a preacher in Sugar Land, Texas, and is a two-time GRAMMY-nominated gospel singer, songwriter, producer and radio host. He started playing drums at age five and after graduating from college became the choir director of the Higher Dimension Church in Houston. Fortune, with his choir FIYA (Free in Yahweh’s Abundance) released their first album, You Survived, in 2004, for which he received the ASCAP Writer’s Award. The album’s title single, “You Survived” peaked at #2 on the gospel chart, remained in the top 7 for 3 years, and was honored at the ASCAP Rhythm and Soul Music Awards. Fortune has a natural ability of translating gospel and praise songs to a younger audience, and he frequently fuses urban beats and hip-hop arrangements into his songs. He has recorded eight albums, including 2008’s The Transformation, which contained the #1 gospel hit “I Trust You”, 2010’s triple Stellar Awards-winning Encore, and 2012’s album Identity, which garnered two gospel GRAMMY-nominations, one for best album and one for the song “Hold On”. Fortune’s 2017 release Dear Future Me, with its’ hit “Favor of God”, was nominated for three Stellar Awards.
PASTOR CHARLES JENKINS is a pastor, multi Stellar Award-winning singer, songwriter, and producer that was born in Chicago, Illinois and is a graduate of the Moody Bible Institute and the Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. After college, he became a pastor of Fellowship Missionary Baptist Church of Chicago. At the age of 34, he took over the helm of the church’s famous gospel choir, Fellowship Chicago, which had been recording joyous, best-selling albums under the direction of the church’s founder Rev. Clay Evans. After being catapulted into the gospel music spotlight with his smash hit “Awesome”, he released his first album, Best of Both Worlds in 2012, which quickly snagged the #1 spot on Billboard’s Gospel Music Chart. His second project, Any Given Sunday, featuring the hit single “War”, also made it to #1 in 2015, as did his 2016 release Think About These Things. Recently Jenkins has released a new uplifting #1 song “Grace” which anchors his upcoming 2018 album currently titled Keep the Faith.
Lehman Center for the Performing Arts, Inc. is supported, in part, with public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the New York City Council. The 2018 Winter/Spring Season is made possible by Goya Foods, Con Edison, TD Bank, the New Yankee Stadium Community Benefits Fund, the Rudin Foundation, the Hyde and Watson Foundation, and the friends of Lehman Center.
For high resolution photos, click these links:
Fred Hammond: http://lehmancenter.org/th_gallery/fred-hammond/
Donnie McClurkin: http://lehmancenter.org/th_gallery/donnie-mcclurkin/
Take 6: http://lehmancenter.org/th_gallery/take-6/
James Fortune: http://lehmancenter.org/th_gallery/james-fortune/
Pastor Charles Jenkins: http://lehmancenter.org/th_gallery/pastor-charles-jenkins/