For Immediate Release:
Monday, Nov. 27, 2023
Contact: Christian Kendzierski
Tel. 410-547-5378
christian.kendzierski@archbalt.org
Black Catholic Mass Choir to debut Nov. 28 for National Black Catholic History Month
Hispanic/Latino Archdiocesan Choir to premier in December
BALTIMORE, MD – Bringing together sopranos, tenors, baritones and singers in between, the Black Catholic Mass Choir will debut at the 5 p.m. Mass on Nov. 28 at New All Saints Church to offer inspired worship music and highlight the contributions of African American Catholics across the Archdiocese of Baltimore.
It is one of two specialty ensembles launching this fall – emphasizing unity among Catholics and the celebration of the Church’s rich diversity.
Premiering at noon on Dec. 9, the Hispanic/Latino Archdiocesan Choir will perform at the Our Lady of Guadalupe Mass in the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen. Archbishop William E. Lori is the scheduled celebrant.
“Vibrant liturgies are one way to attract more Catholics to the faith,” said Lia Garcia, director of the Office of Hispanic Ministry. “This is one of the things Archbishop Lori has called for us to do in his pastoral plan.”
While strengthening bonds across parish communities, the Black Catholic Mass Choir will pull singers and musicians from a half-dozen parishes, according to Adrienne Curry, director of the Office of Black Catholic Ministries. She said music is a connection point, especially for African Americans, as old spirituals have been handed down one generation to the next since they were sung among the enslaved.
“There is nothing like a spiritual being sung; it gets into your soul,” said Curry, who was inspired by the Archdiocese of New Orleans Mass Gospel Choir. “It is part of our essence.
“The Black community is united through music, and we have a gift to give the Archdiocese of Baltimore.”
Archbishop Lori will also celebrate the Nov. 28 Mass of thanksgiving in honor of Black Catholic History Month. The Mass will feature a procession with portraits of the “Saintly Six,” the six African American candidates for sainthood, including Baltimore’s own Mother Mary Lange. A reception with light refreshments will follow.
Deitrick Goodwin has volunteered to serve as the choir director. A social studies teacher at Our Lady of Mount Carmel School in Essex, Goodwin is choir director at St. Ambrose Church in West Baltimore and leads the Catholic Community Chorale.
“Having musical expertise is not a prerequisite of the choir,” Goodwin said. “A prerequisite of the choir is to have a love for Christ and a love for music and, if those two things can come together, then you are qualified.”
Goodwin said he expects the choir will debut with about 30 parishioners from St. Ambrose, St. Ann, St. Bernardine, St. Cecilia, St. Francis Xavier, New All Saints and St. Wenceslaus churches.
Melvin Alvarado Flores, a longtime choir director at St. Joseph in Cockeysville, will lead the Hispanic/Latino Archdiocesan Choir of about a dozen singers who were recruited through an open invitation. It is also a volunteer role.
“Music is a universal language, and it is a tool that helps us express the emotions of the heart,” Alvarado Flores said. “Music and singing are instruments of evangelization and through it, the Word of God can penetrate people’s hearts.”
Both Curry and Garcia said the creation of the choirs is aligned with the mission of the Archdiocese’s Seek the City to Come initiative that is reimaging the Catholic experience in Baltimore. Seek the City, named for a passage in the Book of Hebrews, recently moved from the listening phase to the envisioning phase.
“I am looking at this through the ‘Seek the City’ lens: If we can sing together, we can certainly pray together and worship together,” Curry said.
To read this release in Spanish, click here