By Kharisma McIlwaine
On December 13, “A Soulful Christmas” will celebrate its 9th year at The Kimmel Cultural Campus. “A Soulful Christmas” is the brainchild of Dr. J Donald Dumpson, the creator and director of the program.
Each year, “A Soulful Christmas” seeks to pay homage to the vast reach of African music across the diaspora. “A Soulful Christmas,” hosted by Patty Jackson and Fred Blair, will feature performances from Arch Street Presbyterian Church, Deliverance Evangelistic Church, Enon Tabernacle Baptist Church, Gospel Music Preservation Alliance, Mother Bethel A.M.E. Church, Mount Carmel Baptist Church, PA Commonwealth C.O.G.I.C. Mass Choir, Philadelphia Catholic Gospel Mass Choir, Philadelphia Heritage Chorale, the Philadelphia Heritage Youth Ensemble, as well as performances by Citywide Praise Dancers and Universal African Dance and Drum Ensemble.
Each year “A Soulful Christmas” also honors members of the music community. This year’s honoree is four-time Stellar Award-winning gospel composer, singer and pianist Kurt Carr. Dumpson and Carr spoke with the SUN about curating “A Soulful Christmas,” what audiences can expect and the experience of being an honoree.
Dumpson was inspired to create “A Soulful Christmas” during another musical performance.
“We started after performing a piece called “Can You Hear God Crying,” Dumpson recalled. “It was a premiere with The Philadelphia Orchestra. It was a really powerful experience and the then vice president said we need to collaborate more. What I said to him was that there was not an event for Christmas that really focuses on the African American community. What can we do to create something that would celebrate Christ, but from a lens that is not Messiah or a Bach mass that really celebrates our music? He said yes, the leadership at The Kimmel said yes – [and] the rest is history. It has been an unbelievable experience to have the opportunity to say thank you to extraordinary gifts in gospel music and African American sacred music. It’s a service that I take on full heartedly.”
Kurt Carr has been a staple in the gospel community for well over 20 years, gifting fan classics like “In The Sanctuary” and “For Every Mountain.” “In The Sanctuary” gained a new audience recently with its popularity on TikTok.
“I would’ve never thought 25 years later it would become the theme for a bunch of memes and skits — it’s crazy,” Carr said.
Each year at “A Soulful Christmas,”, Dumpson honors pioneers for their contribution to the gospel world. Carr was always among the people Dumpson hoped to recognize.
“It’s an invitation to celebrate Christmas through gospel music, and Kurt was always on that list,” Dumpson said. “It was just a matter of when could we get to him. There were quite a few people we want to acknowledge. God grants life and God grants the event and we will continue to tell the story of these extraordinary gifts.”
“I was grateful because a couple of my friends have been honored, and in particular last year, Cathy Taylor,” Carr added. “I was actually going to try to come with her — we’re very close, we’re neighbors. She told me how amazing it was, and said ‘Maybe they’ll do you sometime.’ Within a few months, Dr. Dumpson called. I was, like, ok, God answers prayers. I haven’t been there, but its reputation precedes itself and I’m honored to be on the list of people that have been selected to be honored by such a great man and such a great event.”
“A Soulful Christmas” is a curated program that offers audiences performances that pay homage to the wide array of gospel music within the diaspora.
“We wanted to tell a broad story,” Dumpson said. “I don’t want to say we’re more than gospel music, but we have gospel music, spirituals and arrangements by Black composers that we can engage. I want to make certain that people know more about the literature that is born of the diaspora. This platform allows for us to do that.”
Carr has worked with gospel greats such as Rev. James Cleveland (as his musical director and piano player for eight years until his passing) and Andraé Crouch. He has also performed in 40 countries and had his works translated into multiple languages.
Like Dumpson with “A Soulful Christmas,” Carr has always explored various aspects of gospel music and has not allowed himself to be pigeonholed.
“It’s amazing how God brings people together how they’re supposed to be,” Carr said. “It’s always been my desire to broaden the scope of the gospel music listener. It’s amazing, I wrote in my bio eight years ago that I wanted my music to reach “big mama” on the porch in Mississippi and students at Yale and Harvard. Within the last year, I’ve been to both places.”
“When I first started, I got a lot of resistance because my music was different, but I just kept forging along,” Carr continued. “Now it’s becoming the norm. It’s amazing. .[Sometimes] in The Stellar Awards, they call me traditional — I’m, like, ‘Me?’ Now things are a lot more hip-hop, but I’ve never considered myself traditionally what gospel music was about. Being a part of events like this that celebrate the vast amount of stylistic influences that are in gospel music is amazing.”
“Also, the fact that Dr. Dumpson was saying there will be many different kinds of churches,” Carr said. “It’s an ecumenically diverse concert with all kinds of churches and people. I love that. Why are we ministering only to the people that look like us? God is bigger than that… that’s become my theme.”
In addition to the thought and detail Dumpson took into curating “A Soulful Christmas,” he has also put forth a great deal of planning and precautions to ensure that all of the performers as well as the attendees are safe.
This year’s “A Soulful Christmas” will have Austin Woodlin as the music director, with Evelyn Simpson Curenton on the Fred J. Cooper Memorial pipe organ. Additionally, the program will feature performances from a talented group of young people.
“We’re reintroducing the children’s choir,” Dumpson said. “We had them before COVID and last year we did not –100 singers from The School District of Philadelphia, The Opera Company of Philadelphia and from various organizations have gathered to rehearse with professor Dr. Rollo Dilworth at Temple University. The idea of having these youths walk through that music department door and walk into a room with Dr. Dilworth — a renowned professor — is something I felt a responsibility [for]. We have to pour into the youth… they are part of this program with intention. It’s going to be wonderful.”
Carr is currently an artist in residency at Berklee College of Music. He is also working on a new album and a Broadway gospel musical alongside Billy Porter. To stay up to date and support Kurt Carr, follow him across social media platforms @thekurtcarr. To contact Dr. Dumpson, email him at: [email protected]. “A Soulful Christmas” will take place at the Kimmel Cultural Campus’ Verizon Hall, on December 13 at 7:30 p.m.
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