Dorsey Convention Diamond Anniversary Closes in Chicago

The National Convention of Gospel Choirs and Choruses closed out its 75th Anniversary Friday night, August 8, with rousing choral numbers by the Thomas A. Dorsey Mass Choir, special guest appearances by Chicago artists and congregational singing of Dorsey classics.

A special treat was the introduction of Dr. Lena Johnson McLin, niece of the late Thomas A. Dorsey. McLin, a retired music educator and nationally-renowned composer, spoke of her pleasure at seeing the congress bring such joy and inspiration to the city. McLin came to Chicago as a young girl to comfort the Father of Gospel Music not long after his wife and day-old baby died in the summer of 1932.

Dorsey, along with Theodore Frye and Magnolia Lewis Butts, founded the National Convention of Gospel Choirs and Choruses in 1933. One audience member, a 97 year-old woman, was singled out for having been at every National Convention since its formation.

Two Chicago artists participated in the mass choir program. Min. Theodore Gilmore and Friends Music Ministry sent up some traditional songs from their repertory, including the quartet-flavored “Tell the Lord Thank You.” Soprano dynamo Angela Spivey rendered two selections that brought the audience and choir to their feet. The remainder of the program featured choral numbers that the mass choir learned during the week-long convention.

Strains of Dorsey compositions “Highway to Heaven” and “Jesus is the Light of the World” flowed from the mass choir and audience as the offering line processed forward. Alto Maribeth Gentry delivered a breathtaking version of “When I’ve Done the Best I Can,” complete with Dorsey-esque vocal articulation.

The closing event was moved unceremoniously from the Chicago Hilton and Tower’s magnificent Grand Ballroom to an exhibitor room in the lower level, a slight that clearly miffed the convention’s organizers. But the mass choir and audience adapted and celebrated its founders’ wishes that “songs of Zion” be shared and taken by delegates to churches throughout the country.