Gospel workshop visits Vankleek Hill

 

There was drumming, clapping, singing and songs of freedom on April 5 at Vankleek Hill’s spiritual singing workshop.

 

The presentation was part concert, rehearsal, party and history lecture, with the playful and entertaining Cynthia Pribble leading members of the region's Amaryllis Women's Choir.

 

Both a singer and scholar, Pribble has a bachelors and a masters in Music Education and Church Music and is also a voice coach.

 

Originally from North Carolina in the United States, Pribble grew up surrounded by the music of black Americans and researched its history.

She discovered the tradition of gospel music, which relates to the history of slavery in the United States.

During her presentation at St. Gregoire Catholic Primary School in Vankleek Hill, Pribble demonstrated how the original gospels contained hidden messages, and often helped guide black slaves towards the underground railroad and freedom.

Certain songs, like “This Little Light of Mine,” or “Wade it the Water,” would actually have instructions for the yearlong journey north.

“Many of these songs, when they are singing about Heaven, they are singing about freedom and the promised land,” she said.

Pribble also guided the Amaryllis Women’s Choir through a few spirituals and by the end of the evening they had changed their style. Singers seemed more relaxed and there was a lot of laughter in between takes.

Pribble also played a slide show about the history of gospel music in the United States and played examples of hymns — both in their original church-choir versions and their gospel versions, which were sometimes louder and more celebratory, or sometimes more mournful and low.

The goal of the day was to get people beyond “singing notes,” Pribble said, and instead give them a look at the history, culture and significance of gospel music.