Gospel pianist to open noon recital series
Henry Davis, nationally recognized performer of Gospel music, will open the Tuesday Noon Recital Series April 4 at First Lutheran Church, 415 Vine St., in downtown Johnstown.
Davis was selected by the Smithsonian Institution to represent the Gospel segment of its “100 Years Celebration of the Development of the Piano.” Earlier the Smithsonian commissioned him to arrange, conduct and record Thomas Dorsey’s classic, “Peace in the Valley.” The result won a Peabody Award and was featured in a TV movie.
All recitals will be followed by a light lunch. There is no charge; the series relies entirely on contributions.
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Other upcoming programs are:
April 11: Zelie Eger, a Johnstown Symphony violinist who has performed at the Grand Halle and numerous other venues.
April 18: A jazz band comprising students from four high schools, assembled and directed by Eric Pfeil, who is on the music faculty of Greater Johnstown High School. GJHS musicians will join students from Forest Hills, Richland and Westmont.
April 25: William Jeffrey Jones, organist, who recently became the minister of music at First Presbyterian Church in Greensburg.
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Improvisationist Henry Davis
Davis is director of music ministry at Peniel Drug Treatment Center in Johnstown. The son of a Baptist minister, he began playing the piano at age 4, composed his first song at age 5 and presented his first concert at age 6. The piano improvisationist received his formal training at Cleveland Music Settlement House; Montgomery College, Rockville, Maryland; and Howard University, Washington.
He served as a musician with the renowned Howard Gospel Choir. He was an original member of, and pianist for, the Voices-Supreme, a trio in Washington, which for five consecutive years was voted “the best male gospel group” in the nation by the Gospel Music Workshop of America. For more than 20 years Davis was the personal pianist for the late the Rev. Archie Dennis Jr. He also was crusade pianist/organist to Evangelist Morris Cerullo and the Billy Graham Crusades.
His composition “Great Celebration,” a Christmas musical, was produced by WQED-TV and broadcast annually during the Christmas season. Davis performs such favorites as “His Eye Is on the Sparrow” and “God Will Take Care of You.”
Violinist Zelie Eger
Eger, a resident of Hollsopple, teaches violin at the Greater Johnstown School of Music. From 2012-18 she played in the Johnstown Youth Symphony and was concertmaster from 2014-18. She will perform music by Fritz Kreisler and selections from a J. S. Bach sonata for violin. Her accompanist will be Jeff Hornick, who performs with Inclined to Sing and the Greater Johnstown Community Chorus.
Pfeil formerly presented the Greater Johnstown High School Jazz Band at Tuesday recitals. He got the idea of adding players from other schools, but the Covid pandemic delayed that plan for a few years.
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Jones is a native of Atlanta. He served churches in Georgia, Kentucky, Connecticut and North Carolina before coming to Pennsylvania. He was visiting professor of keyboards at Centre College in Danville, Kentucky.
This article originally appeared on The Daily American: Pianist, violinist and more music featured in music series
