CANTON — St. Lawrence University is using its “Noon in the Chapel” series to celebrate Black History Month today.

The Gunnison Memorial Chapel will host an hourlong performance of African-American spirituals and organ music, said Sondra Goldsmith Proctor, the university’s musician in residence.

She will accompany Ad Hoc Singers Julia Pomainville and Alexandra Jacobs for the performance.

Ms. Goldsmith Proctor said she started the Noon in the Chapel series in 2008 to expose the campus to organ music.

“This is an instrument that has been inside the chapel since 1926, I wanted to make sure that people knew what they had,” she said.

Since then, the monthly performances have given her a chance to show-off her repertoire.

“I think it is important to have these concerts to give opportunity to the community to come together,” she said. “Music is a way we can reach out towards each other. We don’t have to say a lot, but just relax with music.”

The free performance will begin shortly after noon. The audience is encouraged to bring a lunch to enjoy while listening.

Thousands of readers like you have made Northern New York Newspapers the number one ranked website* for local news and sports coverage in the north country.

You can continue on to this article in a few seconds, or you can visit one of our websites:

• Watertown Daily Times
• The Ogdensburg Journal
• Daily Courier-Observer