Join us on a NEW DATE for a joyful night of North Carolina gospel music! The three groups featured in the Carolina Gospel Jubilee – The Glorifying Vines Sisters, Jared L. Payton & The Voices, and William Ritter & Sarah Ogletree – each come from a different tradition within gospel, but they all share their music as ministry and perform from within the context of their communities, congregations, or families. Today, as for so many generations, faith and community are the cornerstones of Carolina gospel music.
The Glorifying Vines Sisters – Alice Vines, Dorothy Vines Daniels, Audrey Vines, and Mattie Vines Harper – are musical matriarchs of Eastern North Carolina. Since 1958, the group has been tearing up the road and tearing up every venue they visit. The Glorifying Vines Sisters are one of North Carolina’s longest-established quartet-style gospel groups, as well as one of its leading family music ministries. Coming from a large family, the sisters started out singing with all of their siblings as the Heavenly Ten at the Union Grove Baptist Church near Farmville, North Carolina, before evolving into the smaller group that would become known as the Vines Sisters. After more than 60 years as professional touring artists, and over a dozen records, the sisters still live by a belief learned from their mother: “If you listen to music in the right way, you always can get a blessing.” Alice was instrumental in lining up almost a dozen NC gospel groups for a recent recording project documenting Eastern North Carolina’s Sacred Soul traditions.
Jared L Payton & The Voices are an award winning ensemble from the Cumberland County area who will celebrate their 10th anniversary together in 2022! Director Jared L. Payton draws from a wide array of musical traditions in creating the Voices’ choral arrangements. A classical baritone and tenor who has performed in many operas and concerts, Jared grew up in a family with traditions both of classical choral music (his mother, Dr. Denise Murchison Payton, is the Director of Vocal Activities at Fayetteville State University), and of community-based gospel. As a choir director, he is particularly inspired by the Fisk University choral heritage, which – like Jared L. Payton and the Voices – represents both tradition and innovation.
William Ritter and Sarah Ogletree have been making music together for most of the last decade. Among his many accomplishments, multi-instrumentalist William received the 2019-2020 In These Mountains Apprenticeship grant to study under renowned ballad singer Bobby McMillon. Sarah, who has a Master’s degree in Divinity, directs the Creation Care Alliance of Western North Carolina, a network of people of faith dedicated to environmental protection and sustainability.
Cosponsored by the North Carolina Folklife Institute as part of the Carolina Gospel Project, an initiative made possible by the National Endowment for the Arts.
