Alum Glen Pearson Leads Gospel Ensemble at College of Alameda

EAST BAY TIMES -- Led by music department chair and Professor Glen Pearson with Los Medanos Community College music director and Professor Silvester Henderson, the concert features the 13-member College of Alameda Gospel Ensemble, solo vocalist Lawrence Matthews (soundtrack artist for the movie “Leap of Faith”), motivational speaker and educator Dr. Khalid White and Bay Area guest artists. “Gospel music is the common thread in the African-American community. It serves as the conservatory of music training,” Pearson said. “I want to grow the department by reaching out to more underserved communities throughout the Bay Area.” To reach them, Pearson invited Henderson into the department. “We met in our youth at San Francisco State University,” Pearson said. “We took different but complimentary career paths. I am a traveling, professional musician and educator: he is an educator and a mentor to youth. The young gospel choir he led at UC Berkeley — I meet students all the time who say his guidance was a big part of their success.”