Soul Sounds presents an evening of Gospel Music

The Lionel Wendt Theatre will come alive with the sounds of Gospel and Spiritual music on Tuesday, January 31, as Soul Sounds presents ‘ The Reason We Sing’, conducted by Prof. Mark Wilson, Director University of California Berkeley Gospel Chorus.

This will be Prof. Wilson’s fifth visit to Sri Lanka, having first accepted Soul Sounds Music Director Soundarie David Rodrigo’s invitation to train the group in Gospel music back in 2008. Soundarie met Prof. Wilson while completing her LL.M. at UC Berkeley when she accompanied the University’s Gospel Chorus directed by him. Having been truly inspired by this experience, she was eager to invite him to work with her own choral group, Soul Sounds.

“It has been two years since Prof. Wilson visited Sri Lanka, and we are truly looking forward to learn from him again. He has inspired and taught us so much over the years and we know that our experiences of working with him are an integral part of what this group has evolved into today, especially in the genre of Gospel music,” said Soundarie.

Speaking about the concert, Prof. Wilson said, “Musical art shared perfectly and without flaw, however beautiful and perfect it may be, lacks a deeper meaning if it is meant only to be a form of entertainment. Why do we sing and why do we sing Gospel music? We sing because music, and in this case sacred music from the AfricanAmerican Gospel tradition, makes us happy, stirs up good spirit and good karma within human hearts,” he added.