Lamar University's award-winning gospel choir is preparing for its 25th annual youth and young adult gospel music retreat in July.
Psalm 150 Gospel Choir will present its 25th Annual Youth and Young Adult Gospel Music Retreat July 23-25 at Lamar University. With a theme of “Access Granted: Spiritual Reality Edition” the retreat organizers hope to enhance the musical abilities of young ministers of music, vocal performers and musicians by teaching music theory and techniques such as directing and solo/choral performance.
Since the retreat’s inception in 1984, more than 2,000 youth from across the country have attended the three-day events. Attendees will have the opportunity to take seminars from skilled music clinicians and enjoy some of the amenities of college life at Lamar University including its outstanding dining hall and lodging at Cardinal Village.
The retreat will culminate with a musical celebration featuring the retreat participants on Saturday, June 25 at Antioch Baptist Church, 3920 W. Cardinal Drive, in Beaumont.
To celebrate the retreat’s 25th anniversary, the event will also feature a special performance by the alumni and youth of the Psalm 150 Gospel Choir.
Freddie Titus, retreat director and instructor of mathematics at Lamar, is hoping that a number of the choir’s alumni will participate in the retreat.
“I am excited about seeing the alumni choir," Titus said. "It’s a good feeling to see them return, to see how much they have matured and what they have accomplished.”
Titus founded Psalm 150 Gospel Choir and has been its director since 1979. Through the decades, the university choir has won first prize in the choir fellowship competition multiple times. Choir alumni are participating on the executive board for the National Baptist Student Union Retreat. During the school year, members of Lamar's Psalm 150 Gospel Choir fellowship with students in choirs from universities such as Sam Houston State University, Prairie View A&M University and Texas A&M University.
The choir’s alumni members support the choir at Lamar University and the summer youth retreat.
“Few things last for 25 years," Titus said. "With the help of our alumni, we have had the opportunity to provide music education to young people who want to hone their craft.
"There aren’t any other camps that I know of that cater to young musicians and singers interested in gospel music. It is also a great recruiting tool; many of the participants of the retreat later decide to attend Lamar University for their education.”
For more information about the Psalm 150 Youth and Young Adult Gospel Music Retreat, visit www.psalm150.ning.com or call (409) 861-4707.
