What were some of the difficulties fusing symphony-style music with a gospel chorus?
There really isn’t much difficulty. It’s been done before. Charles Floyd has been doing this kind of thing for quite some time. He did a PBS special a while ago starring Patti LaBelle and Edwin Hawkins with the Boston Symphony (“Evening at Pops,” 1996) that was very successful. It really is just a matter of being able to write symphonic music that will go well with the sounds of gospel music. Much to my surprise, and the surprise of others, it actually works really, really well. Were you able to pick any of the songs in the program or were they already chosen when you got involved? Yes, I had a hand in creating the program. Through talking closely with the conductor, Charles Floyd, he and I communicated and allowed me the opportunity to pick songs that the chorus will be doing by themselves. I picked the Kirk Franklin song, “Jesus in the Reason for the Season” for that reason. And we’ll also be doing a song I composed called “For His Highest.” What are some of your favorite songs featu
