Welcome to an exciting new season of music at downtown Mobile’s Episcopal Cathedral. All of our concerts this year will be streamed before a live audience
so you may join us in person or virtually.
Support our Concert Series online or by mailing donations to:
115 South Conception Street, Mobile, Alabama 36602
The Excelsior Band
The Excelsior Band has a rich and colorful history rooted in the tradition of carnival, Mobile, and the Gulf Coast. The Excelsior Band has been performing in Mobile, the birthplace of Mardi Gras in the United States, since 1883. The Excelsior Band, founded by John A. Pope, for the birth of his son, continues to perform and is recognized as an ambassador for the City of Mobile. The Excelsior Band is well known for performing during Mardi Gras often leading the parades.
The band plays many genres of music with an emphasis on Dixieland and conventional jazz. The band performs regularly along the Gulf Coast at weddings, receptions, funerals, conventions, parades, etc. The Excelsior Band is a ten-piece marching brass band that consists of three trumpets, three saxophones, one trombone, a tuba, a bass drum, and a snare drum. The group also performs as a quintet, as requested for smaller events, e.g. birthday parties, wedding receptions, conventions, etc.
The musical hodge-podge that makes up the Excelsior medley floats in the swing of Carnival cheer with such favorites as “Margie”, “Hello Dolly”, “St. Louis Blues, “South Rampart Street Parade,” and of course, “When the Saints Go Marching In”.
The Excelsior Band received the 2013 Alabama Folk Heritage Award presented by the Alabama Council on the Arts. The band also received the 2016 Mobile Chapter of the NAACP Image Award.
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Coahoma Community College Choir
Coahoma Community College is a public historically Black community college in Clarksdale, Coahoma County, Mississippi. The college was founded in 1949 and is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges. It offers associate degree and certificate programs in more than 70 areas of focus. The Coahoma Community College and AHS Choral Music Department, under the direction of Dr. Kelvin K. Towers, is one of Mississippi’s most renowned choirs and maintains an established reputation for multi-diverse choral performance. The choral music department achieves much local, statewide, and national acclaim as they continue to dazzle audiences with hand clapping, foot stomping, and other electrifying music for the soul. Students are introduced to the best in classical, jazz, contemporary and gospel music. This performing vocal group makes numerous appearances during the year both on the campus and throughout the United States.
A MESSAGE FROM
ELIZABETH GATTER
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Our 2023-2024 season was marked by collaborative and joyful music-making. We celebrated 200 years of Christ Church Cathedral with our faithful Cathedral Choir at the forefront, we welcomed Mobile’s Singing Children and orchestra as part of Ritter’s “Mass of the Children”, and we continue to build relationships with our community through the Betty Coale Young Musician Scholarship, a program that has doubled in size over the last three years.
We kick off our upcoming season by welcoming back Christopher Powell, my predecessor as Organist/Choirmaster, as we prepare for our upcoming Organ Duo Recital. We have a variety of other events we hope you’ll put on your calendar, including a community hymn sing, two performances of “Amahl and the Night Visitors”, and Dubois’ “The Seven Last Words of Christ,” just to name a few. Our Fourth Annual Black History Month Celebration will feature Coahoma Community College Choir and of course, our friends, The Excelsior Band.
It is a privilege as a church community to be able to present such a depth of offerings in a single season. We hope that you will support our efforts by joining us for these musical moments in the life of our church.
A MESSAGE FROM
DEAN GIBSON
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Christ Church has a long history as a center of musical excellence in downtown Mobile. Organist and music director Elizabeth Bemis-Gatter is part of a distinguished lineage of highly gifted musicians and directors who have enriched worship here and created Christ Church’s reputation as a musical leader.
Elizabeth’s energy and openness to new ideas, along with her doctoral studies and connections in the regional musical community and her collaborative spirit, bring a fresh excitement to our shared life here at Christ Church Cathedral. In addition to her talents as a pianist, organist, and vocalist, Elizabeth is gifted in her work with singers, younger and older.
We look forward to continued choral delights in the program year ahead. The Black History Month Celebration in early February continues to grow, and seasonal musical dramas and choral events are thriving. This year’s highlights will include an organ duo concert with Christopher Powell and Elizabeth Gatter and a Lenten performance of "The Last Seven Words of Christ." Look for a Community Hymn Sing and the return of "Amahl and the Night Visitors," as well.
As we move into our third century of sacred worship and music, I hope that many of you will come join us for the special spirit of joyful presence that live music offers. And please do give generously to support the Friends of Cathedral Music that makes possible the extraordinary musical events we will enjoy throughout the year ahead.
Faithfully,
Beverly+
You are invited!
Welcome to an exciting new season of music at downtown Mobile’s Episcopal Cathedral. Join us as we host for some of the best musicians from our area.
The Cathedral Welcomes You!
Everyone is invited free of charge, although offerings are always appreciated.
For more information visit our website.
Please Give!
Music is a vital ministry of Christ Church Cathedral and is made possible
by the generous pledges of members and friends of the Cathedral
to its annual operating budget. Additional funding through
Friends of Cathedral Music allows us to sustain a broader artistic and spiritual outreach to the greater Mobile community. We are thankful for these gifts that go above and beyond other support given to Christ Church.
Please consider making a gift to the Cathedral music program this year.
These gifts will be used to support our special programs and the overall quality of our musical life. We are thankful for those of you who make this an annual habit. We are continuing a long and great musical tradition here at Christ Church Cathedral.
Click here to become a Friend of Cathedral Music.
