An a cappella quintet of truly outstanding quality, Black Voices perform songs from a repertoire which they describe as a carefully woven tapestry on Saturday at Wiltshire Music Centre.
Covering a broad spectrum of musical styles, they continually add new threads of colour to their rich fabric of oral music.
Their stunning performances and unique brand of a cappella include traditional African, Caribbean and English folk songs, jazz, gospel, pop and reggae – in a truly harmonic blend that celebrates their rich African, Caribbean and British heritage yet transcends gender, race, age or religious persuasion.
It's a sound that they have consistently honed over two decades and has seen them tour throughout the world – as well as entertaining, Nelson Mandela and the royal family.
The group has performed on radio and television in numerous countries and they have produced several albums, always remaining true to its a cappella roots.
Featuring Sandra Francis, Shereece Storrod, Cecelia Wickham-Anderson, Evon Johnson-Elliot and Jennifer Wallace, Black Voices was founded and is led by its musical director Carol Pemberton.
Since 1987, she has steered Black Voices in becoming a truly unique performance ensemble, focused on promoting singing the black oral tradition (SBOT).
Like many of the singers she looks up to, her first musical experiences were nurtured in the black church where her father was the minister.
Born into a very musical family, Carol played cello, piano and a variety of wind instruments, playing her saxophone being her latest hobby. However, she proudly admits her weakness for the beauty of the human voice.
Her happiest times? "When Black Voices speaks through its music to any audience, and you see and feel the messages being received."
The group, inspired by Sweet Honey in the Rock and Take Six, has forged its own dynamic way of distilling and re-presenting black music from an African, Caribbean, black British perspective.
Grounded in the black church, the group presents a cappella, both sacred and secular, inspiring and entertaining.
■ For further information visit www.wiltshiremusic.org.uk.
