The Dartmouth College Gospel Choir makes you feel so good, it would be almost impossible to walk out of one their concerts not singing or pledging to join.
The choir's fun is infectious. The sold out crowd in Rollins Chapel Saturday afternoon was on its feet most of the time, clapping hands and waving arms in the air.
Led by ToshaLyn Watson '95, the choir sang a full set of gospel music in a program titled "It Is Well With My Soul."
"Feel free to stand up and clap, feel free to shout, feel free to tap your feet," Watson told the audience.
"We don't want you to be inhibted today," Bishop J.C. White, the Choir's artistic director, said.
The choir was led by fantastic soloists, including Simeon Anderson '97 who sang the lead for "He's Able," one of the highlights of the program. Anderson's smooth voice and commanding stage presence led the choir in this fine example of "call and response" gospel.
Other highlights included Neisha Powells '95, whose healthy vibrato and amazing control almost stole the show in an all-too-short solo, and White, who was spirited and soulful in "He Watched Over Me."
"I sing because I'm happy/ I sing because I'm free," White sang, and the audience knew he meant it.
"When God Is In The Building," sung by an all-female sextet, was moving and powerful. The piece featured Cecily Cole '95, whose sweet but powerful voice echoed throughout the chapel.
Watson, beautiful and other-worldly in a long purple dress, used her whole body to conduct the choir from the center aisle. After the concert, she hugged each singer and whispered what could only have been well-deserved words of praise in their ears.
"We aren't singing necessarily for you," Watson said. "We are singing for the Lord."
There was a heavenly presence in Rollins Chapel on Saturday, but this reviewer would say it came from the mouths of the Gospel Choir singers.
