Traditions Concert
"You can’t sing it to sing it; you have to sing it to be it." — Mr. Alexander Gray, Director
One of the many benefits of living in the great city of Des Moines is being surrounded by an array of cultural diversity that is accessible and encouraged. More than a decade ago, I was first struck by the beauty and energy of the Bridges 2 Harmony Gospel Choir at an MLK Prayer Breakfast inside the Knapp Center on the Drake University Campus.
This past Saturday night, Bridges 2 Harmony hosted their 17th Annual Traditions Night concert inside the Revival Center Church of God in Christ on Des Moines’ northeast side. Our daughter’s super kind and friendly tennis partner and volleyball teammate, Lida, was one of many seniors ending their Bridges 2 Harmony career on this night of celebration and song so we marked it on our calendar and made it out to the 6pm show.
With selections from the Black National Anthem of “Lift Every Voice and Sing” to “Ride on King Jesus” to “Go Down Moses” the choir covered an array of gospel with inspirational joy and enthusiasm throughout the night. Here’s the choir performing “Go Down Moses.”
Bridges 2 Harmony was founded by Rev. James McNear, Jr., in the Fall of 2008 and is now enthusiastically led by Mr. Alexander Gray. According to their website, (where you can donate here to support the cause): “the choir was formed to give students at Roosevelt High School a high-quality musical experience in the gospel genre. The choir has toured regionally, including tours to Chicago, St. Louis, and Minneapolis. In 2016, the choir was put on the international stage, sharing an exchange with the Soweto Gospel Choir of South Africa. At the heart of the choir, the mission remains strong: to build bridges across diverse people through music. Passion & Purpose.”
Mr. Gray (pictured above) was kind enough to share some personal thoughts about being the director of Bridges 2 Harmony. “Bridges was created to give a space for students who didn’t see themselves in choir and for students to find a home in vocal music. As the third director of the choir, it’s always an honor and privilege to guide and encourage students to find their voice in the choir and in the world.
It’s rare that I get to collaborate with so many wonderful musicians in a genre that encourages such vulnerability and honesty from the soul. One thing I tell the choir, You can’t sing it to sing it, you have to sing it to be it; that’s how we believe your message.
And once they hit it, they can truly make the Sun rise and set with the colors of their voices. For just a moment, it feels like Heaven has come down to Earth.
We have so many traditions that we pass down every year, how we move for different songs, our own version of Happy Birthday, supporting soloists with genuine excitement, and our own theme song to close out concerts! Some of our traditions run into how we perform certain songs that have been created by past Bridges members, we try to honor their compositions while putting own our seasoning on it.
Having the opportunity to teach Gospel music in a public school is one of my dreams come true, I wouldn’t trade this experience with anything else in the world. I am a very lucky teacher!”
As I sat back in the pew next to wife, I not only enjoyed the music but observing the clear camaraderie and lasting friendships you could tell were developed within the choir between these students. The sense of confidence and purpose emitting from these young folks bringing traditional music to life had me smiling throughout the night and feeling more confident about this bizarre modern world in the moment.
As I age, the saying “the kids are alright” means a little more to me each day because it feels like it’s going to be up to them to make the world better. In so many ways, I feel like my generation has failed them. As a child of the 80s, there was plenty to fear in the form of mutually assured destruction during the Cold War with Russia, but there’s something about today’s world that troubles me in a different way. At least then it was a common enemy to fear, but today with the Internet providing artificial distance between neighbors and malicious misinformation constantly wedging domestic divides, we just don’t seem to connect with each other at a personal level the way I thought we once did.
To watch this younger generation bring so much joy to life through music, community and hard work moved me. It gave me renewed hope and a breath of fresh air as this talented group of young hearts and minds brought their organization’s mission to life: to build bridges across diverse people through music.
Many happy tears were shed, but the perimeter of the church was properly prepared with Kleenex boxes in the window wells. Our children grow up. They just keep taking those next steps as we move together at the speed of life. It’s both beautiful and sad. Culminating events like these create new core memories and celebrate important milestones for families both biological and metaphorical. To see so many people in the house supporting their loved ones on a Saturday night with their presence, cameras and ears also moved me.
One of my personal parenting mantras along the way has been to just extend the innocence of childhood as long as possible because adulthood’s inevitability is always just around the corner. Many on this Traditions Night were celebrating their children, their community and the power of a collective choir. Voices coming together to be more powerful than singing alone. It was warming to be amongst the joy and admiration in a tradition designed to celebrate others and connections. Supporting each other in such meaningful endeavors might just be the ultimate life hack if one’s quest is to indeed create collective innocence and harmony.
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You can stream my original music on all platforms and at www.chipalbrightmusic.com. My next show is at the groovy HiFi Brew Lounge in West Des Moines on Thursday, May 8 at 8pm. Hope to see you there!
Also, here is the Zoom link for this month’s Office Lounge for paid subscribers to the Iowa Writers’ Collaborative. It’s a lively conversation always held on the last Friday of the month at noon, except for November and December, and hosted by Robert Leonard.