Universal Gospel Choir

Leigh MacKay
OP Contributor

Dont be fooled by the name, Universal Gospel Choir.
Yes, there is some Christian music in the group's reper-
toire; however, the majority of their program is a
delightfully surprising mix of music from many faiths
and cultures. Sufi chants, Buddhist mantras, tradi-
tional Zulu, Cuban, and roof raising southern spiritu-
als are included in a musical round-the-world trip.
The opening half of the UGC’s performance on June
6 at the Unitarian Church at 49th and Oak Street in
Vancouver was more like a concert by Ladysmith
Black Mombazo. The choir immediately grabbed the
audience’s attention with a melody borrowed from a
Brazilian Amazon tribe. Birds called, you could hear
the creatures of the forest floor, and the wind blew in
the trees.

The Universal Gospel Choir combines the voices of

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50 people of many faiths, backgrounds, and ages, into
a group that has been singing for almost 20 years.
Religious, spiritual, and human tolerance and inclu-
sion is the philosophy behind the choir. The UGC
make it work. Brian Tate has been directing the choir
for the past four years. Tate is the unflagging core
energy source for the group’s exuberance. All eyes in
the choir are on him as he tweaks the performance in
ways to suit his highly tuned instincts. The rest of the
time, these eyes are connecting with the audience—
the choir is always “off-book,” and its rapport with
audiences is trademark. Tate is a native Vancouverite
who teaches singing at Langara’s Studio 58, and
morphs his talents into a jazz vocalist in the Brian Tate
Quartet and a solo show called Head Full of Noises.
His down-to-earth, approachable exuberance for the

magic of the human voice radiates to everyone.
Toward the end of the evening, he directed a more
than willing audience through a funkified “This Little
Light of Mine.”
The choir effectively demonstrates the fantastic quali-
ties of the human voice when used in a myriad of
combinations. Soloists are pulled from the group
singly, in pairs, trios—whatever suits the song and the
individual talents of choir members. The opening half
of the evening was a cappella, and a driving band pro-
vided a pulse and a rich contrast for the second half.
Hearing a recording of a choir can't replace the
effect of seeing a well-rehearsed, energetic choir live.
You appreciate the amount of effort it must take to
make the magic happen, and the Universal Gospel
Choir makes magic.

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