Celestial choir sings Saturday

By: Tory Marlin

Posted: 4/18/08

If you go:

What: Black Celestial Choral Ensemble concert

Where: Hendricks Chapel

When: Saturday at 8 p.m.

How Much: Free

Ja-el-Lucina Dozier had never been to church before her first concert with the Syracuse University Black Celestial Choral Ensemble. Now she regularly attends church downtown with other choir members. And she credits the choir as a large part of her spiritual growth.

"It's about just letting go and letting God use you instead of always trying to be in control," said Dozier, a senior psychology and African-American studies major.

Dozier and the rest of the Black Celestial Choral Ensemble (BCCE) will share vocal talent, complex harmonies and uplifting lyrics during its 31st anniversary concert Saturday at 8 p.m. in Hendricks Chapel.

For the members, the concert means more than singing notes on sheet music. They view each performance as a chance to preach to the audience and to spread the gospel through songs with positive messages.

"All of our songs are religious in nature," said Adam Wilson, a sophomore aerospace engineering major. "It's sort of the purpose of our choir. It's tied into everything we do."

Though they are one of the longest-running Christian organizations at SU, BCCE performs mostly off-campus, said Nicole Alexander, the group's assistant business manager and SU alumna. The choir, founded in 1977, has traveled all over the Northeast to sing at other schools and churches. It also visited New York City during Spring Break to perform at some of the members' home churches in Queens and on Long Island.

"We've been able to minister in places where you wouldn't even imagine you could do that," said Kristine Delgado, a senior public relations and Spanish major and the group's treasurer.

BCCE frequently receives requests to perform in churches on its own or with big-name gospel singers. Last Friday, BCCE sang at Bethany Baptist Church in Syracuse with Grammy-award winning gospel singer Karen Clark Sheard.

Wilson said BCCE concerts can affect audience members, because they are unlike any experience anything he's ever witnessed.

"There are plenty of people who have come and who have started their relationship with Christ through being here at one of the concerts," Wilson said. "There have been many stories of salvation like that."

Because they believe in ministering to audiences through their music, many of the members said they feel a sense of responsibility in what they do.

Many of BCCE's 43 members are connected through other religious outlets; they often attend church and Bible study classes together outside of the choir.

"Everybody has that relationship, and they're growing in that relationship," said choir-member Jesse Poe, a senior psychology major. "We help each other, and we go to church together and we pray together."

Not every member of the choir comes seeking the same spiritual growth.

"People kind of come in just to sing, and they want to be part of something that's positive," Poe said. "And then afterward, it becomes a lot more of a spiritual experience."

Brandon Richardson, a sophomore who's been in the choir for two years, said being a member has enriched his experience at Syracuse University.

Richardson takes BCCE with him outside of Hendricks, often onto the Quad when he walks to class.

"After we learn a song, I'll buy it and put it on my iPod," he said, "just so I know I'm doing my best."

vlmarlin@syr.edu