One of the biggest gospel Christmas events in Fort Wayne is coming back for its third year with the production of Worthy: A Christmas Cantata on Saturday, Dec. 7, at Pilgrim Baptist Church. 

It’s a prodigious undertaking featuring all-star musicians and singers from the Chicago gospel, R&B, and jazz scene, led by the cantata’s composer, Lana Manson. 

Six solo singers and a five-piece band will be backed by a volunteer choir of Fort Wayne singers of all races and backgrounds assembled for this performance, and they’ve been rehearsing for weeks.

Concert goes nationwide

The musical is a celebration of the story of the birth of Jesus Christ, built around the theme of racial unity for people in the present day.

I spoke with Fort Wayne’s Stephen Styles, the producer and presenter of this local production of Worthy. He’s a business consultant but also a lifelong jazz drummer. He’s been working with Manson, her husband, Michael, and their Chicago music school, the Musical Arts Institute, for many years.

Worthy was first performed in 2008. Lana Manson released an album with the St. James AME Church of Chicago choir, which you can find streaming online.

“Lana has done this cantata year over year in Chicago,” Styles said. “She’s also performed it in other parts of the country. This year, they’re performing it in Philadelphia. We’re doing it in Fort Wayne, Chicago, and we have plans currently to do it in Detroit, Michigan, as well.”

Styles proudly describes Worthy as “an amazing piece of music and a fully immersive, multicultural musical experience. And I say that because it is, No. 1, very high-level musicianship and singing. These are not hobby musicians. These are some of the most elite musicians in the city of Chicago.”

Styles called attention to the accessibility of Worthy because of its diverse musical styles, meaning there’s something to appeal to any holiday music lover. 

“There are a couple of operatic pieces,” he said. “There is a gospel rap. There is an R&B ballad.” 

“There is a smooth jazz instrumental piece with a little bit of a vocal duet between a tenor and jazz bass, and a number of other pieces of music.”

Worthy instructor

Manson brings to bear years as a singer and community music educator. That informs her approach to composing Worthy, not only for top-flight professionals, but also with room for an amateur pick-up choir so the community can participate.

“Last year’s choir had altogether somewhere around 60 folks, the local Fort Wayne chorus, and some of those people were members of the Summit City Singers,” Styles said.

“Lana is an expert with a master’s degree in vocal pedagogy and choral music from Northwestern University’s Bienen School of Music.”

Manson’s bio explains that she got her Bachelor of Music Education degree at Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee. While in college, she was a member of the Fisk Jubilee Singers, the choir that introduced African American spirituals to the world in the 1870s and that has been the training ground for generations of gospel singers.

Since 2010, Manson and her husband have run the Musical Arts Institute, providing advanced musical instruction to the African American community, to equip students to compete for college scholarships and prepare them for sustainable professional careers in music. 

Michael Manson, also with a master’s degree from the Bienen School at Northwestern, is a tremendously accomplished electric bass guitarist and record producer who has toured the world and worked with artists including George Duke, Al Jarreau, Kirk Whalum, Chaka Khan, and The Winans.

Raising money for Habitat

The Fort Wayne concert is free to the public. 

Styles said last year the floor seating of Pilgrim Baptist, which seats about 1,200, was full. This time around, they’re looking to fill the balcony, too.

Concertgoers will be able to support a worthy cause with donations to Habitat for Humanity of Greater Fort Wayne, helping local families to achieve homeownership. 

The production company is bearing all the costs of the concert, so every donation from the audience goes straight to Habitat. You can make a donation when they pass the plate at intermission, or you can donate directly to Habitat staff at a booth in the lobby. You can also donate online at habitatgfw.com. Scroll down to the “Latest News” section and find the link to the concert page with the details. If you like, you can reserve free tickets through the link to Eventbrite on that page.

Habitat for Humanity is a worldwide program, based in the U.S. and operating in more than 70 countries. 

“For those that may not be familiar, Habitat for Humanity is a nonprofit that helps low-income individuals and families learn the principles of financial literacy, improve their budget and credit score,” Styles said. “Then, through volunteer hours for the families and hundreds of volunteer hours from other people, those homes are built at below market rate.

“And then they help facilitate the arrangement of mortgages that are capped at a lower percentage rate, so that by the time they do ribbon-cutting and they deliver the keys, that homeowner actually walks into the door with equity in their home, and they are the full owner of the house.

“It’s a fantastic program. They help dozens of families every year in Fort Wayne.”

Styles is working to stage another concert of Manson’s here next year: “She also has a Good Friday cantata, for Easter time, which is called Glory. We anticipate bringing that one to Fort Wayne in the spring.”

Come on down to Pilgrim Baptist Church on Dec. 7 to celebrate the Christmas story through the unifying power of music, to hear some of the best gospel and jazz artists from Chicago, and to raise money to help families here in Fort Wayne.