Choir hosts Jam, spirited voices

By Jee Chang

Daily Arts Writer

GoodNews, a local Christian a cappella choir, is hosting the annual event Gospel Jam this Saturday.

The night's theme will be "Testify to Love," with songs and skits based around this central theme. The performance features groups from Northwestern, Indiana University, Carnegi-Mellon and Princeton, in addition to the University.

Gospel Jam, a ten-year-old conference for Christian a cappella groups, will consist of a full weekend of seminars and discussions to learn different aspects of being in an a cappella group. This includes rehearsals, arranging music, performance issues and group building activities. The entire day will be devoted to time for the various groups to unite together to give a thrilling performance at night.

GoodNews has been solely responsible for the conference, consisting of 65 participants. This includes providing room and board, organizing activities, finding speakers and arranging music, choreography and skit-writing. GoodNews director George Dunlap said he expects several hundred to show up to watch the performance. He hopes to fill the auditorium, which seats 1,200.

Dunlap said he hopes to see a lot of support Saturday night. A lot of work has been put into the show, and the groups performing are expected to be excellent.

GoodNews alone has been growing in terms of popularity over the years. This five-year-old group that started with a small group of students has established a reputation here in Ann Arbor. Dunlap said he aims for the performance to be informational and enlightening, but most of all a lot of fun.

There are no instruments involved, so the auditorium will be filled simply with a collaboration of voices. Gospel Jam will surely give the audience a chance to appreciate vocal music at its purest, something we rarely get to hear these days.