ISM Special Event: Why We Sing: A Masterclass with Kirk Franklin

Event time: 
Thursday, April 24, 2025 - 7:00pm to 8:30pm
Location: 
other () See map
Event description: 

Join us for an evening of interactive music-making with gospel legend Kirk Franklin. During this special meeting of Prof. Braxton D. Shelley’s course on “The Gospel Imagination: Tradition and Revolution,” Kirk Franklin will critique student compositions, participate in a free-flowing discussion about his life and work, and direct members of a New Haven-based community choir as they sing several of his best-loved songs.

This event will be held at Immanuel Baptist Church (1324 Chapel St., New Haven). It will also be livestreamed.

Kirk Franklin is a music icon, innovator, and 20-Time GRAMMY® Award Winner.

Dr. Braxton Shelley is a path-breaking theorist of African American sacred music, and the faculty director of the Interdisciplinary Program in Music and the Black Church at the Yale Institute of Sacred Music.

Sponsored by the Institute of Sacred Music’s Interdisciplinary Program in Music and the Black Church. Co-sponsored by the Yale Schwarzman Center.

Open to the public, but advance registration for tickets is required and seating is limited. Registration will be available on March 24 and on April 7. Please check back later on the event’s ISM website event page for more information on registration.

Open to: 
General Public