Kurt Carr and the Kurt Carr Singers Perform at RIT, Feb. 11

The Gospel Ensemble at Rochester Institute of Technology celebrates a quarter century with a 25th Anniversary Concert at 8 p.m. on Feb. 11. The Gospel Ensemble opens the show, featuring Kurt Carr and the Kurt Carr Singers, in Clark Gymnasium.

Kurt Carr expresses a traditional spirit of faith and ministry in energetic, culture-captivating music. Carr and his seven-voice ensemble, the Kurt Carr Singers, make multi-cultural, international music. “I’ve felt God impressing on me that it was time to really reach out to the world with our music, so it was very important to me to draw on the talents of people of different races, ages, nationalities and doctrinal backgrounds—all to solidify the theme and truth that we really are one church in Christ,” Carr says.

Carr’s family was not deeply involved in the church when he was a child but, at the age of 13, he was drawn there on his own, quickly becoming active in the music program. He went on to obtain a degree in music from the University of Connecticut, focusing on classical music but absorbing the sounds of the world around him. After seven years as a pianist and musical director for Rev. James Cleveland and then the creative director of the West Angeles Church of God in Christ in Los Angeles, Calif., Carr formed the Kurt Carr Singers in the early 1990s. He has released five albums, the latest being One Church.

Tickets—$5 for RIT students, $10 for faculty, staff and non-RIT students, and $15 general admission—are available at the Student Alumni Union candy counter or by phone at 475-5210. The concert is sponsored by the RIT Gospel Ensemble with the assistance of the Center for Campus Life, Student Government and the North Star Center.