Eastman Showcase 2006
Three Decades of Praise
In April, the University of Rochester’s Gospel Choir celebrated its 30th birthday. It has spent those three decades under the direction of the same man: Eastman Alumnus Rev. Alvin Parris III (BM ’73).
The Choir has a lot to celebrate. The UR Gospel Choir began with 8 students under Parris’s direction, but its average membership is now 35-40 students. Besides its many performances at the River Campus and at Rochester colleges and churches, the Gospel Choir has also performed with the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra and traveled to Cornell University, SUNY Binghamton, and Buffalo State College. It has also given two theatrical productions: Langston Hughes’ Tambourines to Glory, and the Broadway musical Purlie.
Parris, who graduated from Eastman with a degree in music education, is a widely performed composer and arranger, and a worldwide authority on gospel music. His Gospel Project, in collaboration with conductor Isaiah Jackson, has performed with many US orchestras, and also in Brisbane and Liverpool. He also collaborates frequently with another Eastman alumnus: his wife Debra Parris (BM ’76), a violinist and pianist.