Phillip Carter Featuring the Suwalki Workshop Choir and the Sounds of Victory Live in Suwalki, Poland SOV, Inc. (release date: January 25, 2019) www.phillipcartermusic.com By Bob Marovich The international popularity of gospel music has provided American choir directors and clinicians with opportunities to teach gospel vocal techniques to choirs in Europe, Scandinavia, Asia, and elsewhere around the world. Directors Norris Garner and Phillip Carter have found working in Poland, and specifically with talented conductor Szymon Markiewicz, to be particularly fruitful. Indeed, Carter’s collaboration with Markiewicz and the Suwalki Workshop Choir is the subject of his CD, Live in Suwalki, Poland. ...

Norris Garner / Szymon Markiewicz God Created: Musical Oratorio (DVD) Norris Garner Music (2017) norrisgarnermusic@gmail.com By Bob Marovich Several years ago, singer, director, and songwriter Norris Garner (“He’s Blessing Me”) wrote “God Created” while teaching gospel music workshops in Poland. His Polish colleague, conductor Szymon Markiewicz, suggested he turn the humble song into a masterwork. Garner did. The result is God Created, a gospel oratorio recorded live on May 8, 2015, at the Sulwalki Gospel Festival in Poland and released this year on DVD. What’s an oratorio, you may ask? It is a large musical composition written for orchestra, choir, and soloists, and ...