Choir and gospel star stage charity fundraiser

Feb 19 2009 by Graham Fraser, Hamilton Advertiser

SPIRIT of Life Youth Choir, a new ecumenical choir based in Kirkmuirhill, is set to accompany Grammy-nominated Gospel singer Jessy Dixon, at a fund-raising concert at Motherwell Civic Theatre.

It takes place on Tuesday, February 17, at 7.30pm and will raise funds for the Epiphany Trust, a global charity that supports disabled and destitute orphans as they leave the Romanian care system.

Joan Dillon, who co-founded the Spirit of Life Youth Choir in 2008 with fellow musical director Una Cunningham, said the group is “ecstatic” to be supporting Jessy Dixon.

She added: “This will be the experience of a lifetime for many of our children, offering them an opportunity to accompany an artist who has written for, and toured with, many of the world’s greatest recording artists.”

Jessy has been nominated for seven Grammys in the past and toured with Paul Simon throughout the 1970s, co-producing two of his million-selling albums.

He will be performing his top single The Wicked Shall Cease Their Troubling, in addition to other hits at the Civic Theatre.

Bill Hampson, director of the Epiphany Trust, said: “Jessy will raise the roof of Motherwell Theatre with his very unique brand of Gospel.

“As a long-standing Patron of the Epiphany Trust, Jessy has been an outstanding supporter of the Trust’s work, particularly in Romania, where he has performed numerous times.

“Every penny raised from the Motherwell Concert will go to supporting vulnerable young adults as they emerge from lives of institutional care in Romania at the mandatory age of 18.”