The number 40 recurs again and again and again in the Bible, often marking periods of trial and tribulation. Noah and his floating menagerie survived 40 days and nights of exterminating rain. Moses led the Israelites through the desert for 40 years before reaching the Promised Land, and Jesus endured 40 days of fasting and temptation in the wilderness.
For the Oakland Interfaith Gospel Choir, 40 is a reason to celebrate. Under the leadership of Terrance Kelly, the OIGC has grown and thrived while serving as the tribune of good tidings, not to mention gorgeous gospel music, for civic events and festivities throughout the region.
As the organization concludes four decades of glorious service, the extended OIGC family gathers at Oakland’s Paramount Theatre on Saturday, Dec. 6, for a 40th Anniversary Concert, an event that Kelly predicts will be “complete shenanigans.”
Just about every facet of the OIGC family will be represented, including contingents from the Youth Choir and the 200-strong Community Choir. Some 60 members of the OIGC will be on stage with numerous special guests joining the festivities, including the powerhouse Rev. Reginald Finley and Artemis Lee, who won first place in Beebe Memorial Cathedral’s gospel contest last September.
“We’ll also be joined again by Miss Jackie Tolbert, a Katrina survivor who resettled in the East Bay and who’s got that Southern you-can’t-stop-me style,” Kelly said.
The OIGC reprises the celebration a few weeks later on Sunday, Dec. 21 at the 17th Annual South Bay Holiday Gospel Concert at the Mountain View Center for Performing Arts. And on Dec. 24 the OIGC presents two 36th Christmas Eve Concerts at the Great American Music Hall. With dynamic ASL interpretation by Half-N-Half, aka Sherry Hicks and Michael Velez, OIGC is known for putting on shows that pop with energy.
December is the time of year that the OIGC kicks into high gear, with lots of events that don’t get a numerical designation. On Friday, Dec. 5, a contingent from the OIGC Youth Program performs at the tree lighting ceremony at Emeryville’s Bay Street. And on Wednesday, Dec. 10, the OIGC joins Gov. Gavin Newsom at the 94th Annual California State Capitol Tree Lighting in the State Capitol Rotunda.
At performances large and small Kelly runs the show musically, but he’s very mindful of audience expectations. He learned the hard way about keeping his listeners satisfied when he neglected to program a standard hymn at one of the Paramount performances several years ago.
“An old lady met me at the door of the dressing room and I thought she was going to tell me how much she enjoyed the concert,” he recalled. “But she said, ‘I came all the way from’ wherever it was, ‘and you didn’t sing ‘O Holy Night.’ She wasn’t going home without that song, and she made me and seven members stand there and sing it.”
He’s made sure to program “O Holy Night” ever since, along with “Joy to the World” and “Emmanuel,” a gospel standard “that the African Americans come for,” Kelly said. “In my church family, ‘Emmanuel’ and ‘O Holy Night’ start their holiday season.”
Founded in 1986, the OIGC was conceived by Stacey Hoffman in her first years as executive director of Jazz Camp West. Sizing up the popularity of the summer program’s gospel choir she suggested that Kelly create a year-round ensemble. The innovation was that people of all (or no) faiths were welcome.
In those early years the group drew attention as much for its racial composition as its musical prowess. Rolling into Black congregations with a gospel choir featuring a preponderance of non-Black singers meant that the group had to feel the spirit. Kelly made sure the singers mastered the details of the arrangements.
While it quickly became too big to travel much outside the Bay Area the group earned widespread renown via a series of acclaimed recordings. Contributing to a diverse array of Grammy Award-winning albums like Linda Ronstadt’s “Cry Like a Rainstorm, Howl Like the Wind,” MC Hammer’s “Too Legit to Quit,” and Tramaine Hawkins’ “Live” put the OIGC on the international map.
Whatever its reputation, the OIGC is still subject to the vicissitudes of other arts organizations. In recent months the choir has lost about $165,000 in federal funding.
“We’ve muddled through,” said OICG Executive Director Maren Amdal. “There’s been a big retrenchment, going from seven to four full-time staff, to make sure we can maintain our programs.”
At a time when so many forces are working to divide Americans from each other, the OIGC offers an object lesson in the power of communal creativity.
“We come together with 23 different faiths, Christians, various forms of Buddhism and Judaism, to sing Black gospel music, to show the world what can be done if people agree to give up a little bit of themselves,” Kelly said. “Our intent is to cause world peace. We want everyone to be lifted.”
Contact Andrew Gilbert at jazzscribe@aol.com.
OAKLAND INTERFAITH GOSPEL CHOIR
40th Anniversary Holiday Concert: 7 p.m. Saturday Dec. 5 at Paramount Theatre, Oakland; $24.25-$104.15; www.oigc.org
17th Annual South Bay Holiday Gospel Concert: 6:30 p.m. Dec. 21, Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts; $43-$60; tickets.mvcpa.com
36th annual Christmas Eve Concerts: 7 and 9:30 p.m. Dec. 24, Great American Music Hall, San Francisco; $28.25; www.oigc.org