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Ten-time Grammy award winner Bobby McFerrin, best known for Don’t Worry, Be Happy, will present the New York premiere of his latest work, spirityouall, on Tuesday, April 16 at 7:00 pm. in the Adelphi University Performing Arts Center (AUPAC) Concert Hall, 1 South Avenue, Garden City, NY. Join McFerrin, one of the world’s best vocal innovators and improvisers, for an evening of virtuosic musicianship, community spirit and pure fun. An extremely limited number of tickets remain, so be sure to order your tickets right away at aupac.adelphi.edu to ensure you don’t miss this fantastic entertainer.
spirityouall features beloved familiar tunes like "He's Got the Whole World In His Hands" and "Every Time I Feel The Spirit" alongside original songs which explore Bobby's everyday search for grace, wisdom, and freedom. The new material ranges from a celebratory hoedown (“Rest”) to a polemic anthem (“Woe”), to a down and dirty blues setting of Psalm 25:15. This project embraces Bobby's folk, rock, and blues influences without abandoning his fearless improvisational approach or his never-ending exploration of the human voice. He moves seamlessly between lyrics and wordless lines, trading phrases with his band, inviting the audience to sing along. Bobby loves to sing this music, and it shows: spirityouall raises the roof with joyful grooves.
spirityouall continues Bobby's life-long quest to integrate all the influences of the musical universe. But as in so many great American tales, sometimes it turns out that everything one is searching for is in one’s own backyard. The project honors the legacy of Bobby's father, the great operatic baritone Robert McFerrin, Sr., the first African-American to sign a contract with the Metropolitan Opera Company and a renowned interpreter of the American Negro Spiritual. " I always thought that someday I'd sing these songs," Bobby says,"and that I'd have to find a way of doing it that was completely different from my father's approach. I think the idea has been kicking around for at least a couple of decades. And it was finally time." Three of the traditional numbers featured on spirityouall “Every Time I Feel the Spirit,” “Swing Low Sweet Chariot” and “Fix Me Jesus” also appeared on the senior McFerrin's 1957 album Deep River, but similarities end there. The spirituals are about liberation and courage, the human condition, the pioneering spirit, the search for strength in the face of adversity, and the journey toward a better place, and Bobby's versions reach for new territory.
spirityouall is a deeply personal statement for Bobby McFerrin. “I couldn’t do anything without faith," he says. "I couldn’t open up my eyes, I couldn’t walk, I couldn’t speak, I couldn’t sing. What I want everyone to experience at the end of my concerts is…this sense of rejoicing. I don't want the audience to be blown away by what I do, I want them to have this sense of real joy, from the depths of their being. Then you open up a place where grace can come in." Lift your voice, open your heart, and sing along.
According to the Los Angeles Times, his “greatest gift to audiences may be transforming a concert hall into a playground, a village center, a joyous space.” Get your tickets now and join Bobby McFerrin and his band for a special evening on Tuesday, April 16 at 7:00 pm.
Celebrating its fifth year, Adelphi University’s Performing Arts Center is Long Island’s premier cultural arts venue for entertainment of all kinds. Limited tickets for the Bobby McFerrin concert are on sale now at aupac.adelphi.edu. Information is available at The Lucia and Steven N. Fischer Box Office at (516) 877-4000 or boxoffice[.]adelphi.edu. The Concert Hall is located on the main level of the Performing Arts Center, adjacent to the Box Office.
About Adelphi University
Adelphi (adelphi.edu) is a world class, modern university with excellent and highly relevant programs where students prepare for lives of active citizenship and professional careers. Through its schools and programs The College of Arts and Sciences, Derner Institute of Advanced Psychological Studies, Honors College, Ruth S. Ammon School of Education, University College, Robert B. Willumstad School of Business, Schools of Nursing and Social Work the co-educational university offers undergraduate and graduate degrees as well as professional and educational programs for adults. Adelphi University currently enrolls nearly 8,000 students from 43 states and 45 foreign countries. With its main campus in Garden City and centers in Manhattan, Hauppauge, and Poughkeepsie, the University, chartered in 1896, maintains a commitment to liberal studies in tandem with rigorous professional preparation and active citizenship.
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