October 6, 2022 – Following a two-year hiatus due to the pandemic, Boutique Tour Company, Welcome to Harlem, has announced that its popular Holiday Gospel Celebration will resume this December.
In addition to historical and cultural tours of Harlem, Welcome to Harlem also offers Jazz and Gospel music programs to visitors. The Harlem Holiday Gospel Celebration has been a calendar event for five years and features heart-warming Gospel music fit for the holiday season. This year, Welcome to Harlem is adding to the excitement with the launch of the Harlem Gospel Series, set to kick off on Saturday, October 22 at 11:00 am. Audiences will be treated to one hour of soul-stirring, hand-clapping, feet-stomping Black gospel music presented by an authentic, live Black gospel band. The series will run weekly until the end of the year at the Mt. Olivet Baptist Church, 201 Lenox Ave, New York, NY 10026.
The Harlem Jazz Series is also a popular fixture of Welcome to Harlem’s music program. The series runs from April to December at the Mount Morris Ascension Presbyterian Church, 16 Mount Morris Park West, New York, NY 10027. The Harlem Jazz Series features a live one-hour jazz concert curated by Trombonist, Craig Harris. Guests will get a rare opportunity to experience the immortal sounds and rhythms of Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, Miles Davis, and many more, delivered by up-and-coming musicians and seasoned Jazz Professionals.
CEO and Founder of Welcome to Harlem, Carolyn Johnson, is excited about restarting the Harlem Holiday Gospel Celebration. She said: “Once things started to return to normal, we kept getting requests for the Harlem Holiday Gospel Celebration. It is a joy to finally announce that the program will restart after a long, two-year break. Commenting on the launch of the Harlem Gospel Series, Johnson said: “We wanted to give visitors who visit Harlem during Fall, the opportunity to experience the richness of authentic Black Gospel music.”
The Harlem Holiday Gospel Celebrations and the Harlem Jazz series are undoubtedly filled with substance. In fact, concert guests continuously rave about the performances. One visitor, Christopher B. summed up the overall experience of the Jazz concert. He said: “The curator of this series, Craig Harris, is a venerable presence on the NYC jazz scene, and he uses his network to bring in world-class musicians every week. I have been 4-5 times in the last few months, and each time I sit in awe, and comfort, to be thrilled by bravura performances. I will keep coming.”
Lolo echoed a similar sentiment about the Harlem Holiday Gospel Celebration. She said: “I enjoyed the whole experience, but the church service/gospel was definitely the highlight for me. “It was beyond powerful and the performance of the musicians was awesome.”
The Harlem Holiday Gospel Celebration, The Harlem Jazz Series, and now The Harlem Gospel Series are tasteful additions to the historical and cultural walking tours offered by Welcome to Harlem. Tickets to these events are affordably priced at $20 per person. For further information visit: https://welcometoharlem.com.
