Donnie McClurkin & Livra Live @ Lehman Center March 27, 2010

DONNIE McCLURKIN and LIVRE
Lehman Center for the Performing Arts presents a soul-stirring evening of classic and contemporary gospel and inspirational music -- GOLDEN GOSPEL! -- with three-time GRAMMY® Award-winning singer and minister DONNIE McCLURKIN, making his Lehman Center debut on Saturday, March 27, 2010 at 8pm. Donnie McClurkin can never stay away long from recording profoundly uplifting music for the soul. He has spent the past decade topping the Gospel charts and just this month won his third GRAMMY Award for Best Gospel Performance for “Wait on the Lord” from his latest release We All Are One (Live in Detroit). The concert will also feature LIVRE (“free” in Portuguese), a young Gospel group from the Bronx comprised of seven singers and three instrumentalists. They will perform such heartfelt, soul-searching songs as “Survivor” a testimony of survival, and “Believe” an emotional performance of faith and hope.

Lehman Center for the Performing Arts is on the campus of Lehman College/CUNY at 250 Bedford Park Boulevard West, Bronx, NY 10468. Tickets for DONNIE McCLURKIN and LIVRA ~ GOLDEN GOSPEL! on March 27, 2010 at 8pm, are: $55, $50, $45 and $40 and can be purchased by calling the Lehman Center box office at 718.960.8833 (Mon. through Fri., 10am-5pm, Tues. 10am-7pm, and beginning at 12 noon on the day of the concert), or through 24-hour online access at www.LehmanCenter.org. Lehman Center is accessible by #4 or D train to Bedford Park Blvd. and is off the Saw Mill River Parkway and the Major Deegan Expressway. FREE on-site parking is available.

Donnie McClurkin was born in 1959 in Amityville, New York. An aunt who sang with the great Andrae’ Crouchintroduced young Donnie to the musical icon who would become his mentor. As a teenager, Donnie played keyboards with his church youth choir before forming the McClurkin Singers in 1979. Following a calling to preach, he remained committed to music. He formed the NY Restoration Choir in 1989 and recorded the album I See a World, which included his first classic “Speak to My Heart.” He was appointed as an Associate Minister at Marvin Winans’ Perfecting Church in Detroit. Donnie McClurkin was signed to Warner Alliance Records as a solo artist and recorded his pivotal, self-titled album of soul-stirring gospel songs. Oprah Winfrey invited him to appear on her TV show, catapulting his CD to #4 on the Gospel charts and to gold and platinum sales.

His first CD for Verity Records, Live in London and More, far surpassed his solo debut, thanks to secular radio’s embrace of his gracefully reassuring “We Fall Down.” The song received international acclaim, made the Top 40 on Billboard’s R&B chart, and rocketed past platinum sales of over one million copies, instantly making Donnie McClurkin among gospel’s best selling artists. His latest release, We All Are One (Live in Detroit), his first recording in five years, is an eclectic collection featuring special guests CeCe Winans, Yolanda Adams, Mary Maryand Karen Clark-Sheard that features the GRAMMY-winning “Wait on The Lord,” a duet with the amazing Clark-Sheard. Donnie McClurkin’s two previous GRAMMY wins were for Best Traditional Gospel Album (2006’s Psalms, Hymns & Spiritual Songs) and Best Soul Contemporary Gospel Album (2004’s Again). He has received countless honors including Dove, BET and Stellar Awards. After winning NAACP Image Awards for Outstanding Gospel Artist in 2004 and 2006, Donnie McClurkin is nominated this year for Best Gospel Album for We All Are One (Live in Detroit). The winners will be announced during a live broadcast from Los Angeles scheduled to air on the Fox network on Friday, February 26 at 8pm ET.

Livre is the newest, young, dynamic group out of the Bronx to hit the Gospel scene. In August 2007 member Eugene Tolbert assembled his cousins and friends to sing at a revival at his church. They performed for the entire week, were well received, and decided to form a permanent union. The team consisted of Richard Tolbert, Kenneth Williams, Ajanee Hambrick, Ariel Malloy, Andre Plaskett, and Eugene Tolbert (piano). They later added Bria McDaniel, Malik Spence, Darius Woodley (drums) and Guy Jenkins (bass). It was at the Bronx Mass Reunion that Livre caught the attention ofAlicia Keys managers, Jeff and Conrad Robinson. They recognized, as they had with Alicia, that this group was special and that they wanted to take them to the next level. With the establishment of Glory 2 Glory Records, Livre is now the first group signed to the highly anticipated Gospel Division of MBK Entertainment. Their debut album is being executive produced by Alicia Keys and Israel Houghton.

This program is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the City Council. Lehman Center also receives support from the New York State Council on the Arts.

Official Website: http://www.lehmancenter.org