The First Congregational Church in Greenfield will host GOSPELFEST on Saturday, and participants are promising to lift people’s spirits with lots of song and music.
Proceeds from the festival will benefit the United Way of Franklin County.
This year, the festival will welcome several performers, including Moonlight and Morning Star, 4D1G and the Amherst Area Gospel Choir.
According to organizers, it promises to be an afternoon — the festival will be at First Congregational Church, 43 Silver St., in Greenfield at 3 p.m. — of plenty of Gospel music.
Moonlight and Morning Star have been singing together for 20 years. Their concerts take audiences into a world of diverse music, with their unique interpretations of jazz standards, R&B classics, Gospel, Jewish music, soul and some of their own originals and spoken word collaborations.
Moonlight is known for his blues and Gosepl interpretations, and is a master of vacal expression and harmonic blend.
Morning Star has performed in the Shea Theatre’s production of “To Kill A Mockingbird” and Majestic Theater’s production of “The Buddy Holly Story.” Her tone has been described as “uplifting.”
The two have performed together throughout the county and beyond in numerous concert halls, at festivals, in coffeehouses, and at universities, schools and houses of worship.
The 4D1G Gospel Quartet consists of a men who have been singing quartet music together for more than two decades. Originally, the quartet was called The 4Ds. Members have changed over the years, but the group’s commitment to singing Gospel music has not.
Led by Dennis Ainsworth, the men live in the Greenfield area. Their concerts have been held in various churches and other venues throughout the valley.
4D1G combines Gospel hymns with special selections, and sometimes the quartet performs with guest singers and musicians. The quartet is: Ainsworth, David Welenc, Don Messer, Dennis MacLaughlin, David Chaplin and Garrett Grant.
The quartet’s name comes reflects that everyone’s first name begins with the letter “D,” except Grant’s.
The Amherst Area Gospel Choir is not affiliated with any church — members come from many denonimations, but hold “One Truth.”
The choir’s mission is to keep history alive through the music it performs, and to bring joy, passion and love to one another and to its audiences, which are typically diverse.
Tickets for the GOSPELFEST are $15. They can be purchased at World Eye Bookshop on Main Street in Greenfield.
More information is available at: Facebook.com/gospelfestcc2016