PLATTSBURGH — The SUNY Plattsburgh Gospel Choir’s “GospelFEST 2025” will raise the rafters at the Plattsburgh Church of the Nazarene on Saturday evening.
“This will be the first time we have brought GospelFEST to the Nazarene Church,” Dr. Dexter L. Criss, artistic director, said.
“We are extremely excited because the music that we’re bringing for this show really will be a great space because we’re in the church setting. It’s going to be a natural connection between the songs and the space.”
A pre-show starting at 5:45 p.m. features Gabriel Kneller on banjo.
MC is Adline “AD” Robertson of Burlington, Vt.
“She is a member of New Alpha Missionary Baptist Church,” Criss said.
“AD is one of the first persons I met when I first started attending church in Burlington in 1999, 2000, something like that. So, she’s like a sister to me, a sister to the whole choir. She is definitely going to bring excitement to the audience. Some people may remember AD because usually she is that one person who is encouraging the choir when we’re singing: ‘Go ahead choir. Go ahead.’”
Criss said the concert’s goal is to inspire the audience.
“To remember that we are all one, and we should do everything we can to be positive toward each other,” he said.
“And AD definitely is going to bring all of that together as she hosts the show.”
HIGHLIGHTS
Soloist Annie Lecompte, a SUNY Plattsburgh alum, returns for GospelFEST.
“Her voice is simply a true alto voice, but with that soulful, almost bluegrass spin to it,” Criss said.
“She’s going to sing a contemporary Christian song, ‘Holy Water,’ along with our Candace Nelson. We are going to bring a banjo in on that played by Gabriel Kneller. We’ve never used a banjo. This is going to be the first time. So that’s going to be interesting. That was a lot of my wheel route, but the choir has always shown ability to be very versatile.
“Of course, the banjo is an original instrument that was brought over from Africa. It’s fitting that we should incorporate that piece in one of our selections.”
There is a surprise performance by his baby brother, Dan Criss, of Arkansas.
“We celebrated my mom’s 80th birthday this past weekend, and he’s still in town,” Criss said.
“I asked him to actually lead one of the songs I was going to lead called ‘Tell God Thank You.’ He’s a much better singer than his big brother. Big brother may be more handsome, but he’s a better singer. I’ll give him that. He’s a truly gifted singer. To have him come in and sing that song, I’m going to direct it. It takes me back to when I was still home in Arkansas back in the ‘80s. Our mom is still alive to witness this collaboration. It’s been a long time.”
NEW BAND
The program features many selections iconic to gospel concerts.
“We have different musicians for this show,” Criss said.
“We some from musicians from St. Albans – Marty, Steven, and Ethan.”
Martin Fredrick (percussionist/band leader), Ethan Sawyer (lead guitarist), and Steven Walton (bass guitarist) are all musicians at the Rock Church.
“So, they truly tie into the style that we want for this show,” Criss said.
“They don’t play too loud. They don’t play very soft. They just play right there in the pocket. It’s almost like they aren’t there if that makes sense. It’s not going to be a show where the band is just overpowered. They’re just all part of it. I’m very excited about that collaboration.”
Criss will share piano duties with Jonathan Ellwanger and Alexander Malson.
The choir will perform “Walk In Jerusalem,” a concert spiritual.
“Many times concert spirituals don’t have much choreography, but we’re going to choreograph this song as we sing it,” he said.
“So I think the audience will really enjoy that spin.”
Soloists Keely Huling, Gina Lindsey Barbara Criss will perform “Something Inside So Strong.”
“If this concert has a theme, it’s talking about making sure that our rights are not taken away,” he said.
“Our rights are not trivialized just as being privileges. I mean they’re human rights. This song was written by Labi Siffre. He wrote this back in the ‘80s. He’s a British guy. He saw a documentary on apartheid, and he was so moved that he wrote this song. He wrote several songs, but this is the one he’s probably the most famous for. This version was recorded by The Kingdom Choir out of Britain.”
Andrea Ogle, assistant artistic director, choreographed this song.
“So not only are we singing in such a way that it compels the human spirit, the choreography will just pull you into the song,” Criss said.
“So much so that people will forget that when he wrote this song, it’s almost like ‘We Shall Overcome.’ It was a song of protest against how the human rights of the South Africans was just stripped away from them. So yes, in today’s climate, we have to make sure that all of our citizens, human citizens, which is the world, everybody is treated fairly.”
The choir’s Praise Dancers’ theme interprets “God is Reliable.”
“They are doing several songs, a mash-up where they piecing these songs together,” Criss said.
“One seems to be a Christian, urban song. One seems to be almost hip-hoppish. They dance in one style, and then they switch to another. It keeps you on your toes. I can’t wait to see them dancing in their outfits. That will be nice.”
The choir’s Ensemble will perform “Changed” recorded by Tramaine Hawkins and composed by Walter Hawkins.
“It’s a very difficult song to sing, but it’s not a difficult song to listen to,” Criss said.
“And the reason why it’s difficult is because one it’s in 9/8 time. Anybody out there who understands music, 9/8 can be a challenge. But I have to give my singers credit. They have really prepared and studied.”
Soloist is Dr. Van Dora Williams, an assistant dean and program director at Champlain College.
“She possesses that Mahalia Jackson-ish voice,” he said.
“She’s going to bring that. I have to say, there are so many good songs.”
“God Gave Me A Song” soloists are Jerrique Ortiz and Angelica Sanchez.
“We’ve done it a couple of times, but there always something we didn’t bring to the stage,” Criss said.
“This is the third time that we’re going to do this song, we’ve got it now. I’m so excited. Last night we practiced. We had to wait for that person who possessed the voice. Angelica is going to take it to the next level. Even though she is a young person, her voice represents someone in their 60s, 70s, 80s. That life experience is in her voice. I don’t how you can be 20 years old and have that kind of life experience in her voice. It’s a remix of the original version, but it’s so chorally written, but then it jumps into disco. It’s very operatic and then it goes disco and then it goes back into traditional gospel. It’s a big song. I think the choir finally, finally grabbed and are going to do well on that.”
Criss gives a shout-out to the host church.
“The Nazarene Church is not just a location,” he said.
“They reached out to us. Letting us know that they are there for the community. They didn’t just say it, they meant it. They have been so accommodating. We’ve gone in, and we’ve brought in all of this equipment. Their sound guy, Dave, has been so wonderful working with us these past couple of shows. We are forever grateful for the Nazarene Church for giving us a place to take this show. It’s not just them saying, ‘Here, it is.’ They’re right there to help us. They’re just wonderful people.”