Justice for All - Amherst

THERE ARE STILL TICKETS AVAILABLE AT THE DOOR FOR TONIGHT'S CONCERT! We recommend you arrive by 6:30 to get better seats. Doors open to church at 6pm.

Come join with us as we sing together for the rights, dignity, and safety of all in our community irrespective of race, creed, gender, sexual orientation, and national origin. This concert provides a chance for community groups and faith congregations across the Pioneer Valley to affirm our shared commitment to racial justice and to shed a light on the critical work many are doing for this every day.

This concert is a benefit for: Springfield NAACP and Arise for Social Justice

Artists / songleaders:

Lea Gilmore - Lea is a blues, gospel, and jazz-singing civic activist who has lent her voice, literally and figuratively, to advocacy for the underserved of the world for many years. Essence Magazine named her one of the "25 Women Shaping the World" in 2005. She has worked tirelessly to advance racial justice and bridge divides in her native Baltimore, particularly since the death of Freddie Gray in 2015. www.leagilmore.com. 

Amherst Area Gospel Choir - This choir, led by Jacqui Wallace, sings at many area events (most recently the Amherst MLK Breakfast). They work to preserve & advance Black gospel music in its spiritual and artistic form. There is a sound that comes from gospel music that doesn’t come from anything else. It is a sound of peace.  It is a sound of "I’m going to make it through all of this”.  – Yolanda Adams

Annie Patterson & Peter Blood - creators of the best-selling songbook Rise Up Singing and its 2015 sequel Rise Again (containing 1200 additional songs). Annie & Peter have devoted their lives to spurring change through group singing. Author and activist Studs Terkel called Rise Up Singing a "play-work-fight-freedom hymnal!" 

We will be accompanied by:

• Award-winning blues pianist & vocalist Professor Louie (www.professorlouie.com) and
• Grammy-nominated bass player Paul Kochasnki, fresh from his appearance with Lori McKenna on Late Night with Stephen Colbert

You can purchase tickets on this event page or at the door. Online tickets are handled by a "will call" list (no paper tickets are mailed out.) 

At the door admission is via "suggested donation": $20 for adults, $10 students,  $5 for under 25. ("Be generous, be affordable!") If you can afford to give more you will help others attend who have less to contribute. No one turned away for inability to pay!

Copies of Rise Again will be available to borrow or buy during this singalong concert.  If you have a copy of Rise Up Singing or Rise Again, bring it with you.