Choir directors Arthur Gremillion of Mount Zion First Baptist Church, front, left, and Christian Vigé of First Baptist Church Baton Rouge, front, right, combine dtheir church's choirs for a 'Gathered Voices' last summer. Choir members from other churches also participated. The second concert is set for Saturday, Aug.
17. The decade-long friendship between Christian Vigé and Arthur Gremillion is bound by church choirs. Vigé is the minister of music at First Baptist Church of Baton Rouge, and Gremillion is choir director at Mount Zion First Baptist Church.
But the choirs are different in style. First Baptist's Sanctuary Choir performs classical choral music, while Mount Zion, which has a predominantly African American congregation, performs gospel. Which gave Vigé and Gremillion a thought.
"We had been doing music together, and we had always talked about the true depiction of what heaven will be like with all of every tongue, tribe and nation, like the scripture says," Vigé said. "And we always talked about how though he and I are very different as music colleagues, our friendship is kind of a true depiction of what unity in Christ looks like, especially now in today's society." So, last summer, they decided to bring together their two choirs in a concert called "Gathered Voices.
" The idea caught on. A diverse group of choir members from other churches asked to participate. "We ended up having people from 17 churches in the choir," Vigé said.
"The First Baptist orchestra also played." Arthur Gremillion, music and art director for Mount Zion First Baptist Church, speaks at a Gathered Voices program at First Baptist Church Baton Rouge. Vigé said the choir members meshed so well that he and Gremillion decided to make "Gathered Voices" an annual event.
The second concert is set for 6:30 p.m. Saturday, Aug.
17, in First Baptist Church's sanctuary, 529 Convention St. Along with First Baptist and Mount Zion, this year's participating churches include Victory Harvest Church, Zoar Baptist Church, Trinity Episcopal Church, Blackwater United Methodist Church and First Presbyterian Church of Scotlandville. First Baptist's orchestra will provide accompaniment again this year.
Though many churches are moving away from traditional choirs, Vigé said some people still want to sing in choirs. "We wanted to give them an opportunity not only to sing choral music but also give them a unique environment and setting that blends both the gospel and the liturgical music together in one place," he said. "Arthur and I had always dreamed about how we could unite singers and orchestra players from all different walks of life and backgrounds to foster that community in order to have this musical diversity through worship.
" The two choir leaders initially planned to stage the concert earlier but were waylaid by COVID. "It was like the stars never aligned," Vigé said. "But last year, we finally made it happen.
It was just the perfect time, and we had about 50 singers from different churches. This year is about the same. We have different people from different denominations and community choirs from all walks of life.
And we actually have some high school students joining us this year." The concert lineup will include songs such as "Anthem of Praise," arranged by Bradley Knight; "E'en So Lord Jesus Quickly Come," arranged by Paul O. Manz; "Sing a Mighty Song," arranged by Daniel E.
Gawthrop; and "In the Beginning," arranged by Joshua Spacht. Admission is free. For more information, call First Baptist at (225) 343-0397 or visit the church's website at .
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