City of Culture Praise Festival

Choir Secretary Gary Brown said about 80 men from five other male gospel choirs from the province, and one from Dublin, are expected to join them.

He added: “We will be laying on an additional praise event in the city centre to publicise the festival among Saturday afternoon shoppers. The special Open Air Sing will be held at Foyleside shopping centre at 1pm. Those taking part in this event will be our local choir with Ards

Testimony Choir and the choirs from Newtownbreda, Iron Hall (Belfast), Banbridge and Ballymena,” said Gary.

The guest conductors at the afternoon event will be Norman Deering, Frank Gilmore and Houston Ogilby, who will join the Londonderry choir’s Musical Director Helen McCay.

The choirs will be augmented at the evening service by some choirmen from Dublin.

“Our own choir believes it is particularly important in this City of Culture year to reach out to all the local communities, and it is with this objective in mind that we have specially invited the city’s Mayor and representatives across the communities to join us at the evening festival,” said Gary.

“Normally we hold the festival in Kilfennan Presbyterian Church in the Waterside. However, we are fortunate this year in having the use of the magnificently restored First Derry Church which has already been used as a venue for cross-community

musical events.”

Miss McCay will conduct the massed choir, and the chairman and speaker will be Pastor Jim Turrent, who is Lead Pastor in Central Baptist Church in Dundee.

Pastor Turrent, who is making his first visit to the city, graduated and worked in engineering before becoming a pastor. His first charge was Culloden Baptist Church in Inverness, and he moved to the Dundee congregation in August, 2008. He is married with one son.

The North-West Gospel Choir, led by Alister and Evelyn Smith, will join the massed male choir to bring their own special items of praise.

The organist will be Terry Smith, from Londonderry and Sadie Abernethy, from Newtownards, who will accompany the choirs on the piano. This year’s offering will go to the Foyle Search and Rescue organisation, a local charity who work tirelessly to support all sections of the community in the city in difficult and stressful situations.