I am the Chancellor and Vice President of the University of Illinois Springfield. I served in senior leadership roles at two public regional universities prior to my arrival at UIS.
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
This little light of mine
What a gift it was this past Sunday to attend the performance of the Soweto Gospel Choir in our own Sangamon Auditorium with members of our UIS Gospel Choir and Dance group. Musical Director, Vusimuzi Shabalala and three other members of the Choir were kind enough to meet with us before the performance and tell us a little bit about the Choir and their current U.S./Canada tour. We even sang a verse of "Amazing Grace" with them – a little warm up for their absolutely amazing performance. The Grammy-winning Soweto Gospel Choir is known all over the world for their beautiful voices, pristine musical harmonies and wonderful interpretations of traditional African songs and American gospel favorites like "This Little Light of Mine" and "Bridge over Trouble Water." Every member of the group is an artist in their own right; but I think my favorite performer on Sunday was Shimmy Jiyane, the choir choreographer and a lead singer – what a great talent! My special thanks to Teresa Haley, President of the Springfield NAACP and UIS graduate, for being my special guest for this performance. Thank you, Soweto Gospel Choir for bring so much joy to the UIS campus!!