**Please note: this page is for the virtual only event experience. If you would like to attend in person at Alphabet City, please click this link to register for free in person tickets.

The Mendelssohn Choir invites you to Alphabet City to explore the rich traditions of global choral music with local artists. Participants will learn about specific cultural song traditions, and have the opportunity to sing songs from within those traditions. It’s an interactive concert like no other! And no singing experience required.

Featuring special guest Dr. Herbert V.R.P Jones, Founder/Director of The Heritage Gospel Chorale of Pittsburgh.

Dr. Jones is one of the nation's foremost figures in choral conducting and training,  and an expert in the intersection between theology and musical expression. A Southern transplant to Pennsylvania, Dr. Jones has a multifaceted career as a choral conductor, educator, operatic and oratorio bass, orator and pastor, teaching and performing across the United States and Europe.

Dr. Jones will lead a deep dive into African American sacred music, music born out of the lived experiences of black enslaved peoples. This tradition encompasses everything from 19th-century concert spirituals to modern praise and worship songs in genres from the blues to hip-hop, and it is used to practice devotion, offer comfort, teach virtue, recall history and doctrine, and celebrate special days.

Global Choral Traditions Presented by the Mendelssohn Choir