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Gospel Music Tribute to the Paces
March 25 @ 7:00 pm EDT
Recovering the Music of Charles Henry Pace, Hill District Composer and Publisher
Concert at Ebenezer Baptist Church • Saturday, March 25, at 7:00 p.m.
Charles Henry Pace ran one of the nation’s most successful independent Black gospel music publishing businesses from the 1920s until his death in 1963. As one of the first gospel composers, he helped establish the genre’s conventions, and his nationwide distribution network helped create the infrastructure of the gospel industry.
After beginning his career in Chicago, he moved to Pittsburgh in 1936 with his wife, activist Frankie Pace. They set up shop and started the region’s first gospel choir in the Hill District. At its peak, the choir numbered about 200 singers and performed at a different church almost every week, including Grace Memorial and Grand View Presbyterian churches.
Until recently, most of Pace’s music was lost. But a team of local musicians, historians, and church leaders, including Shadyside choir members Christopher Lynch and Mark A. Boyle, are restoring the music from Pace’s printing plates, which reside in the University of Pittsburgh Library System.
The music will be performed for the first time in more than sixty years in a celebratory concert featuring the Heritage Gospel Chorale and the Alton Merrell Trio at Ebenezer Baptist Church on Saturday, March 25, 2023, at 7:00 p.m. Learn more and reserve your spot for the free concert at charlesandfrankiepacetribute.eventbrite.com.
Among Our People
Dr. Christopher Lynch is Project Coordinator with the Center for American Music, a part of the University of Pittsburgh Library System, and Artist Lecturer at Carnegie Mellon University. Both he and his wife, Christina, are members of the Shadyside Presbyterian Church Chancel Choir.
Dr. Mark A. Boyle is Associate Professor of Music and Director of Choral and Vocal Activities at Seton Hill University and Conductor of the Pittsburgh Compline Choir. He and his wife, Jane, have sung with the Shadyside Presbyterian Church Chancel Choir since 2013.
Della L. Ellard sings with the Heritage Gospel Chorale. A member of Shadyside Presbyterian Church for thirty years and an ordained deacon, she also serves as Administrative Assistant as a member of the church staff.