For now, members of the choir share reflections from last year’s trip on this latest video.

For over 26 years, the Williams College Gospel Choir has maintained a rich tradition of ministry and fellowship through music with the college campus and the Williamstown community at large.  As the years have passed, we find ourselves more and more immersed and involved in a variety of events.  A couple of years ago we were able to celebrate our 25th year anniversary where we invited many of the choir’s alumni to come celebrate such an important milestone with us. This November, we sang with two-time award winning artist Rita Coolidge at her Christmas concert at the Clark Museum.  This year the choir finds itself with the amazing opportunity of going on another tour to the San Francisco bay area.

On our ten day trip, from March 16th to March 26th, our thirty member choir, and three hired musicians, will be touring at local churches, meeting with Williams alumni in the area, working with local schools (elementary, middle, high school, and Stanford University), and participating in a variety of community service events.

Last year, we traveled to local churches, participated in several community service projects. Gospel choir members served food to homeless families at a local food shelter. We moved through the downtown area handing out hot chocolate, sandwiches, blankets, and clothing to those in need. We listened to the stories of men standing on cold street corners, we prayed for people dealing with different illnesses, and sang ‘Happy Birthday’ to a man who had lost everything. We laughed and spoke with people who needed some to talk to. We organized food and back boxes for families at the food pantry as well as folded clothing for families getting back on their feet. We folded clothing and organized food on shelves. The choir sang for individuals at the Cerebral Palsy Center for the Bay Area in Oakland. It was such a delight to see them clap, move and sing along with us. We sang at Golden Gate Park as people in all sorts of situations came through to get food. People who were homeless, struggling with drug addictions, alcoholism, depression and mental illnesses came to hear us sing. It was really touching to be able to give life to these people. A man shared with us how in the moment everything seemed okay, because we were there to sing to him. We shared the stage with a middle school at their concert; we were able to exchange songs and customs. It’s our aim to share our joy in exchange for a little hope.

This year, we plan to return to these programs, as well as branch out to different and equally helpful programs. We had so much fun performing and helping that many programs asked us to come back or had the name of someone we could contact and help. There were opportunities that we learned about by spending time in the area, that we will look into when planning the itinerary for the upcoming trip.

We thank for you for your consideration and support. Please click here to donate towards our cause.

We will be sharing testimonials from last year’s experience in this website. The first one is by Willis Koomson ’14 below.

Blessings,

Felicia-Wrae Morgan ’15 (fam1@williams.edu)
Treasurer, Williams College Gospel Choir

The Williams College Gospel Choir performed with Rita last November for several songs including: Circle of Light, Amazing Grace, and Silent Night.

The Williams College Gospel Choir attended the KIPP San Jose Collegiate school earlier on Tuesday morning. During their visit, the choir had the opportunity to interact with different groups of students at the school. These included the school’s version of a chamber choir and also a beginners/intermediate choir group. This space allowed for great questions from the students at the school, which tapped directly into the breadth of experiences that the 18 members of the gospel choir bring. The visit culminated with choir directors Gabe Cervantes’13 and John Borden’12 teaching a song and leading a combined choir with students from KIPP and Williams together. This was a great experience that helped members of the choir reconnect with the issues and questions they faced during their high school days.