Kimmel Center to Present Melba Moore in A SOULFUL CHRISTMAS SHOUT FOR JOY!, 12/17

KimMel Center Presents celebrates the sounds of the season with A Soulful Christmas Shout For Joy! performance on December 17, 2013 at 7:30 p.m. featuring the vocal talents of Melba Moore and artistic and music director J. Donald Dumpson leading over 200 singers from five local stellar choirs.

Program highlights include a series of spirituals, gospel, and inspirational music selections; a resounding finale of Adolphus Hailstork's "Shout for Joy" with brass quintet, timpani and organist Evelyn Simpson Curenton performing on The Fred J. Cooper Memorial Organ; and an inspirational performance of "Silent Night" featuring Brian Lenair on saxophone in which audiences participate in a grand theater illumination.

Tickets are available for $25 to $45 and can be purchased by calling 215-893-1999, online at kimmelcenter.org, at the KimMel Center box office, Broad & Spruce streets (open daily 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.).

A Soulful Christmas Shout for Joy! features the choral talents of Arch Street Presbyterian Church Choir led by Rev. Bill Golderer, Pastor and J. Donald Dumpson, Minister of Music & Arts; Bright Hope Baptist Church Choir led by Rev. Dr. Kevin R. Johnson, Senior Pastor and Bro. Gary Taylor, Minister of Music & Arts; Enon Tabernacle Mass Choir led by Rev. Dr. Alyn E. Waller, Senior Pastor and Bro. Kenyatta Arrington, Minister of Music & Arts; High School for Creative and Performing Arts Choir with Dorina Morrow, conductor and Mr. John Denphy, Principal; and the premiere of the J. Donald Dumpson Singers.

R&B singer and actress Melba Moore is the daughter of saxophonist Teddy Hill and R&B singer Bonnie Davis. A graduate of the famed Arts High School in Newark, New Jersey, Moore pursued music education at Montclair State University before she landed her first big role in the Broadway musical of HAIR, a production in which she was the first African-American woman to replace a white actress (in this case the acclaimed Diane Keaton), in the lead role. She is also the first African American to take on the female lead role of "Fantine" in LES MISERABLES, Additional Broadway credits including earning a Tony award for her portrayal of "Lutiebelle" in PURLIE, and having performed alongside the iconic Eartha Kitt as "Marsinah" in the musical TIMBUKTU! She is the first female pop artist to perform a non-operatic solo concert at New York City's Metropolitan Opera House. The Grammy nominated recording artist also made her debut on Mercury Records with I Got Love, followed by Look What You're Doing To The Man, and is known for Billboard #1 hit singles such as "Falling" and "A Little Bit More." More recently, Moore starred with Beyonce and Cuba Gooding Jr. in the motion picture The Fighting Temptations. She is currently producing her forth coming album, Forever Moore, and is working on an autobiography with professor and former New York Times writer Mel Watkins.