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Bio

Founded in 1986, the mission of the Oakland Interfaith Gospel Choir, Inc. is to inspire joy and unity among all people through Black gospel and spiritual music traditions. Born out of a gospel music workshop led by the exuberant Terrance Kelly at Living Jazz’s Jazz Camp West, it became an independent 501(c)3 nonprofit organization in 1991.

OIGC currently weaves together more than 300 singers across multiple choirs from a wide range of faiths, races, and cultures whose performances of historic forms of African American music bring a message of inclusion and belonging to diverse audiences.

The namesake Oakland Interfaith Gospel Choir, a “treasured Bay Area institution,” performs 25-30 times a year and is inclusive of an ensemble of nine to 15 singers representing OIGC at additional events. The choir and its dynamic director, Terrance Kelly, have captivated audiences across the world, from Israel to Norway to Australia to the Deep South. Singing with the same passion and precision wherever they are, the award-winning Choir’s exquisite harmonies and stirring gospel repertoire have led to performances with a wide variety of esteemed groups, such as Joshua Nelson, the Prince of Kosher Gospel; the Five Blind Boys of Alabama; and the Duke Ellington Orchestra. The Choir has performed on stages large and small from the Paramount Theatre to San Quentin State prison and appears on Grammy-winning albums by Linda Ronstadt, MC Hammer, Tramaine Hawkins, and others.

OIGC also supports additional choirs including the Oakland Interfaith Youth Choir founded in 1997. OIYC provides musical, educational, and social opportunities for Bay Area youth, as well as the chance for mentoring and college scholarships. In 2013, the Oakland Interfaith Community Choir held its first rehearsal with just 30 members. OICC grew exponentially, reaching almost 250 members in 5 years. Despite being a non-auditioned choir and meeting only once a month, OICC features a great degree of talent and enthusiasm and performs several times throughout the year, including their signature summer gospel concert.

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit in early 2020, OIGC stayed connected with choir members and audiences through virtual rehearsals and performances. The inaugural World Choir Project, I Won't Stop Singing My Praise, premiered in Spring of 2021 and included singers from nine countries in five different languages.

The summer of 2022 saw the acquisition of the Oakland Youth Chorus, followed by the first rehearsal of the Oakland Interfaith Kids Choir that fall, bolstering OIGC’s youth program and outreach to Bay Area youth ages 5 to 18.

When choir members hold hands in a circle before each show, they call out their wishes to send peace, joy, love and hope to everyone in attendance. And when the choir starts singing, audiences can’t help but jump to their feet, lift their hands, and allow the glory of the music to uplift them.

Short Bio (194 words, 1202 characters)

Terrance Kelly, Founding Artistic Director

Terrance Kelly has garnered extensive musical credentials in both gospel and jazz music. His operatic range and joyous emotional feel for the music make him a popular soloist as well as an accomplished director, composer, and arranger. His credits include choral arrangements on albums by Linda Ronstadt and the Kronos Quartet and gospel arrangements of popular music for TV and video soundtracks. In addition, he wrote or arranged most of the music for each of the choir’s albums. Mr. Kelly received an Emmy Award for his choral arrangement of OIGC’s KGO-TV public service announcement.

In 2005, he received the Local Heroes Award from KQED Television for his directorship of the Oakland Interfaith Youth Choir and was also honored at the Gospel Music Awards. In 2013, he was awarded the Dr. Edwin Hawkins Excellence Award.

Mr. Kelly currently serves as Minister of Magnification at Oakland’s Imani Community Church. He has traveled as far as Australia and Israel to teach gospel music and, since 1982, has served as Gospel Choir Director for Jazz Camp West, hosted by Living Jazz. In addition to his other endeavors, he is a semi-regular member of the San Francisco Opera Chorus.

His father, the late Ed Kelly, was an esteemed jazz and gospel pianist. His mother, the late Faye Kelly, was a gospel choir director and pianist.

Look

Terrance Kelly and the Oakland Interfaith Gospel Choir

Founding Artistic Director Terrance Kelly

Oakland Interfaith Gospel Choir at EastLake Music Festival

Oakland Interfaith Youth Choir at Northern California International Dragon Boat Festival

OIGC Ensemble at Mercy Retirement Center

Listen

Watch

I WON’T STOP SINGING MY PRAISE
OIGC’s Inaugural World Choir Project 2021

WE SHALL OVERCOME
Freight & Salvage 2023

OIGC ACQUIRES OYC
2022

WHEN THE SAINTS GO MARCHING IN
Montreux Jazz Festival 2015

GET RIGHT CHURCH
Freight & Salvage 2015

ONE VOICE
Official Trailer 2018

Connect

What People Are Saying

“It’s utterly contagious…”

— Charleston International Choral Festival

"Sunday afternoon at the Dance Palace was toned down shades of an old time revival, if you can picture an event like this in usually staid West Marin. The audience, many festooned in robes from choir robes to kimonos to bathrobes, packed the venue to hear this small ensemble of 13, the pick of the litter from the larger East Bay group of 55."

— Ellen Shehadeh
"OIGC Brings Audience to Its Feet"
West Marin Citizen

“If you ever, ever have a chance to see the OIGC, do it. You will have the time of your life....Run, run to get their tickets whenever you see their name.”

— Ellen O.

“There’s no reason to be quiet about joy especially when it is sung by the angels…the way the choir members moved body and soul with welcoming hands opened wide, real inner smiles and bright, gloriously gifted voices gliding through texture and dynamics like sonorous lilies in a pond. That, ladies and gentlemen, spread the good time like butter to a biscuit.”

— Jean Bartlett, Arts Correspondent
Pacifica Tribune

“Nevertheless, this prelude could not possibly prepare me for what came after the Oakland Interfaith Gospel Choir with their live band came on the stage. Their cunning entrée executed by joining on the song . . while walking down the church lane towards the stage, caught the audience by surprise. Their first song—Lord, How Come Me Here?—caught the audience by their hearts. Sitting in the front row, I could not hold the tears in any longer. The music was not resonating in the church anymore, it was resonating deep in my soul.”

— Krystof Diatka, Panorama (of the Molde Jazz Festival performance)

“From reports of those attending the various programs around the Bay Area of OIGC and SKRUK, the music was performed by “God-inspired” persons. The Allen Temple sanctuary resounded with ethereal sounds, with music from Norway, the early Christian church, and the most pre-eminent of traditional and modern Gospel music.”

— Oakland Post

“…amazingly moving performance, angelic at times, delightfully complex, highly energetic, and beautifully graceful…”

— Greg Land

“Towards the end of the concert the church resembled a dance hall more than a religious sanctuary.”

— Krystof Diatka
Panorama - Molde, Norway

Mar 19, 2021 - The Mercury News: World Choir Project: ‘This Song has been written for this moment’

Jun 28, 2019 - San Francisco Examiner: Gospel singers make room for LGBTQ community

Nov 27, 2018 - The Mercury News: Oakland gospel choir spreads message of unity through holidays, and around the world

Jul 8, 2018 - Oakland Post: Negro Spirituals and Gospel Music Influence International Relations

Dec 28, 2017 - PBS News Hour: Choir finds harmony in different faiths

Dec 23, 2016 - Hoodline: In Wake Of Election, SF Gay Men's Chorus & Oakland Interfaith Gospel Choir To Tour 'Red States'

Aug 2016 - Mentions in Pitchfork, Yahoo TV, The Mercury News, Rolling Stone: OIGC sings with The Muppets at SF Outside Lands

Nov 26, 2015 - SF Gate: Voices from many faiths rise together in Oakland choir

Jul 16, 2015 - Panorama: Human Voices made the church go wild

Nov 19, 2013 - Contra Costa Times: Holiday pop 2013: Oakland Interfaith Gospel Choir sings for the holidays

Nov 2012 - The Monthly: East Bay Life: High Praise: Terrance Kelly's homegrown gospel singers still shine after 25 years

Dec 17, 2010 - Oakland Tribune: Oakland Interfaith Gospel Choir director Terrance Kelly sees gospel music as a healing force

Aug 7, 2009 - East Bay Express Best of the East Bay Party Blog: Lift your spirits with the Oakland Interfaith Gospel Choir

Dec 21, 2008 - SF Gate: Oakland Interfaith director puts fire in choir

Awards

2019: Bay Area Gospel Music Awards’ “Best Community or Church Choir”

2019: Terrance Kelly receives Bay Area Gospel Music Awards’ “People’s Choice Award”
2015: Voted "Best Arts Organization" in Oakland Magazine: Best of Oakland and the East Bay
2013: Terrance Kelly awarded the Dr. Edwin Hawkins Excellence Award
2009: Voted “Best Church Music” in East Bay Express: Best of the East Bay
2007: Youth Choir voted Best Youth Gospel Choir in the 2007 Northern California Gospel Academy Awards
2006: Certificate of Special Congressional Recognition presented by Congresswoman Barbara Lee for outstanding and invaluable community service
2006: Voted “Best Gospel Choir” in East Bay Express: Best of the East Bay
2005: KQED Local Heroes Award presented to Terrance Kelly for his work with the Oakland Interfaith Youth Choir
2005: Bread & Roses Certificate of Appreciation to Terrance Kelly and the Choir for over fifteen years of music service to institutionalized audiences
2005: Excellence in Sacred Choral Music award to Terrance Kelly from the Academy of Gospel Music
2003: First Annual Sweet’s Historic Ballroom Musical Soul of Oakland Award
2003: California Music Awards Special Recognition for Excellence in the Performance of Gospel Music and the Preservation of its Heritage
2003, 1997: Outstanding Director of the Year award to Terrance Kelly from the Academy of Gospel Music
2003, 2002, 2001, 2000, 1999, 1997: Best Community Choir of the Year award from the Academy of Gospel Music
2001: Bay Area Religious Announcers’ Guild Certificate of Appreciation
1998: Oakland Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce Arts Organization of the Year Award
1997: Gold Award for promotion of cultural understanding through music from the International Music Festival
1995: Terrance Kelly awarded an Emmy for his choral arrangement of the Choir’s KGO-TV public service announcement
1990, 1989: Best Performance of the Evening award from the Academy of Gospel Music

&

Highlights

2019-2021: CA State Capitol Tree Lighting Ceremonies

Apr 2021: Inaugural World Choir Project - “I Won’t Stop Singing My Praise”
May 2020: KQED Broadcasts of “ONE VOICE: The Story of the Oakland Interfaith Gospel Choir”
Feb 2020: We Shall Overcome - A Celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. ft. Damien Sneed
Jan 2020: Youth Choir Tour to Costa Rica
National Anthem for 49ers, Oakland A’s, & Warriors
Oct 2017: European Tour - Montreux Jazz Festival, Molde Jazz Festival, Copenhagen International Gospel Academy
Sep 2019: Chase Center Ribbon Cutting Ceremony
Jun 2019: SF Pride Mainstage and VIP Party
Jan 2019: Kamala Harris Presidential Campaign Kick-off Rally
Dec 2018: SF Symphony
Sep 2018: Ron Dellums Memorial Service

Performances with:

Oakland Symphony
San Francisco Symphony
San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus
Dr. Teeth and Electric Mayhem
Five Blind Boys of Alabama
Joan Baez
Amber Riley
Joshua Nelson, Prince of Kosher Gospel
Vanessa Williams
Cece Winans
Edwin Hawkins
Damien Sneed
Barry Manilow

The Choir has also received awards and recognition from city, state, and federal agencies, the JCPenney Awards Program, and the Clorox Foundation Community Commitment Awards Program.

Self-produced Annual Events

DEC Holiday Concert Series - San Francisco Bay Area

Annual Holiday Concert
All-Youth Choir Holiday Concert
South Bay Holiday Concert
Christmas Eve Concert

FEB Black History Month Celebration - Berkeley, CA

APR Annual Free Spring Musical - Oakland, CA

MAY OIYC Senior Sending Ceremony - Oakland, CA

JUN OICC Summer Gospel Concert - Oakland, CA

SEE FULL CALENDAR

Contact

admin@oigc.org
(510) 510-839-4361

655 13th Street, Suite 301
Oakland, CA 94612

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