BYU Student Choir Sings with Local Adventist Church in a Guadeloupe Religious Concert
On March 16, 2024, Brigham Young University’s Outreach Choir joined the Gospel Celebration Singers, a choir from a local Seventh-day Adventist church, in a concert hosted by Guadeloupe's Saint-Pierre-et-Saint-Paul Catholic Cathedral. The BYU Outreach Choir represented the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The experience for participating BYU students was funded by the Caribbean Area of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, BYU experiential learning and donor Tim Wright.
According to an article written by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints newsroom, the concert, titled “A Family United in Christ,” was a collaboration of three religious groups from the French District of the Caribbean Area and featured both choral and solo pieces. Monique Ange Hertin, of the Adventist Choir, and BYU School of Music professors Andrew Crane and Brent Wells directed the groups in “repertoires ranging from spirited rhythms to spiritual hymns of Christ.” The article noted, “Both choirs joined together to a standing ovation for the final number, ‘Total Praise,’ a spiritual yet lively finale to the evening, written by Hertin. A spirit of love, mutual respect and friendship was developed through this relationship building event.”
Another article about the experience published by the BYU School of Music said, “Elder Claude Gamiette, an Area Seventy, expressed to Dr. Crane that the concert ‘completely melted away’ negative feelings and misconceptions that the community may have had about the Church.”
The concert was followed by other special events including sacrament meeting performances and a masterclass by professors Wells and Crane.
Read the full Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Newsroom article here and the BYU School of Music article written by Zoey Diede here.