HARLEM JAPANESE GOSPEL CHOIR

日本語で見る

Harlem Japanese Gospel Choir

The Harlem Japanese Gospel Choir was founded in 1997 by legendary Harlem producer Tommy Tomita, under the Music Direction of Minister Melody Moore, and leadership of Kimiko Matsuo at various churches as a community choir.
The Choir became the first Japanese to win the Best Choir Award in one of the biggest American gospel festivals "McDonald Gospel Fest" in 2010. They have performed on many stages as NYC Marathons, Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Off-Broadway Gospel musicals, Harlem Week, Japan Day, Japan Parade, featured at the Apollo Theater, and appeared as part of the NFL Super Bowl Multicultural Choir 2014 at the Madison Square Garden Theater, Times Square Super Bowl Stage, and Met Life Stadium, and has been active in church fundraising and Japan tsunami charity relief efforts.
Their unique style of singing in English & Japanese has been featured in the New York Times, NBC Sunday Morning Show, CBS News, and Japanese Media.

Please feel free to contact us for bookings.

harlemtommytour@hotmail.com

●HISTORY●

In the 1990s, gospel music became more popular among Japanese people due to the huge success of the movie "Sister Act" and the gospel musical "Mama I want to Sing!", but there was a tendency to think of gospel music as just "pop music" without any church experience. Tommy Tomita, a music producer living in Harlem who had close ties with black churches and who first began guiding Japanese people to churches in Harlem in the 1980s, wanted to create an opportunity for Japanese people to learn the true meaning of gospel music and the joy of singing through the black church experience, so he consulted with Beshop Dr. Preston Washington, one of the greatest leaders of Harlem, who he had a trusted relationship with. In 1997, the "Harlem Japanese Gospel Choir," the only Japanese gospel choir in New York, was born at Memorial Baptist Church. For about 30 years, the choir has been active as a "community choir" based in Harlem, singing concerts at churches, visiting nursing homes and hospitals, and singing as guests at Sunday church services in New York, New Jersey, and even to Atlanta in 2018. They have been featured in many media outlets, including TV and newspapers (NBC's Sunday Morning Show, CBS's Saturday Morning Live, The New York Times, The Daily News, etc.), as well as Japanese media outlets. The choir members are Japanese of various ages and backgrounds, including business men, students, housewives, artists, and short-term visitors living in New York and New Jersey. Nearly 10,000 people have participated as their workshops, and many of the members who have returned to Japan continue to search for gospel choirs in Japan and sing gospel music. In addition, the core members of the choir have played a major role in establishing the current popularity of gospel in Japan, forming their own choirs, doing charity work through gospel music in Thailand and Korea etc., graduating from seminary, and some even establishing churches in Japan. The Harlem Japanese Gospel Choir is very proud that the small seeds planted here in Harlem are slowly but surely growing in Japan. In June 2010, the choir became the first Japanese to participate in McDonald's Gospel Fest, one of the largest gospel competitions in the United States, and won first place in the Best Choir category, becoming the first Japanese to win the competition. This was widely reported in both Japanese and American news as opening a new door for Japanese gospel. ※You can read part of the article about the first Japanese to win the American gospel competition McDonald's Gospel Fest here↓ https://www.christiantoday.co.jp/articles/5309/20100623/news.htm https://www.sponichi.co.jp/entertainment/news/2010/06/23/kiji/K20100623Z00000330.html https://www.2nn.jp /mnewsplus/1277259199/ https://www.shikoku-np.co.jp/national/culture_entertainment/article.aspx?id=20100623000149

Tommy Tomita
Founder

Music Producer in Harlem, born in Tokyo.After graduating from university, he became a member of Japanese Luge Team the "Winter Olympic" game in Sapporo. After that, he　owned 3 major Jazz clubs in Roppongi, Tokyo, and many stars were born from the clubs. 1985 came to New York and traveled all over the United States to introduce a new music trend of Japan through TV/Radio programs and magazines. 1987 Settle down in Harlem and started the first "Harlem Tour for Japanese tourist". He had great friendships with local musicians, and had introduced musicians, dancers, and artists from New York to Japan, and had organized numerous concerts in both Japan and the US, 1994-2012 Produced "Harlem night Concert" in Yokohama 5days 1994 Produced of concert "Japan Jazz All-Stars" in Apollo Theater. And every month , he had been booking Gospel Musicians, singers from NYC to Japan. He was a member of the Harlem Chamber of Commerce. Despite being shot three times, he had lived in Harlem for about 40 years, 1992 Received "Harlem 125th. Innkeepers Association Award" for his contribution to Community Volunteer Activity. 1994 Received "Dr.Martin Luther King Jr. Excellence Award" for Harlem civic league. 2006 Recieved "Apollo Award" for his years of committed support to Apollo Amateur Night. 2007 Celebrate the 10th Anniversary of "Harlem Japanese Gospel Choir" at Baptist House of Prayer Church. 2014 Received "Man of Vision"award from Black community in the U.S. He had written manybooks and articles related to jazz and Harlem, and had been featured in the world-famous New York Times and had been interviewed by many Japanese and U.S. TV stations. ***YOU CAN SEE THIS ENGLISH ARTICLE (below link) http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/24/nyregion/24metjournal.html?pagewanted=all

Kimiko Matsuo
Organizer・Director

Born and raised in Japan. After graduated and earned a B.A. in Economics from a Christian university, she worked as a media director at a major entertainment company, managing and promoting ads in magazines and newspapers, as well as TV programs, and conducting interviews. In 2002, she moved to Harlem NY, to introduce Harlem topics to Japan, edits the books, writes the colimns, coordinates Japanese magazines & TV's, introduces or invites The US artists to Japan, developing & training young talents, also she is featured by the media in Japan & The US. As a coordinator, she works as a bridge between New York and Japanese media and music labels. In 2014, she was the first Japanese to be appointed as a board member for the NFL Super Bowl Gospel Celebration, the largest entertainment event in the United States. She also came to Japan for a workshop and concert with the Grammy-winning Brooklyn Tabernacle Singers in 2014. Giving back to her beloved Harlem Community, she has been doing clothing donation, collecting from Japanese community giving to churches, public schools and shelters on a regular basis. 2014 Received "Women of Excellence"award from Black community in the U.S. Serving in the Music Ministry as a member of her home church in Harlem.

Min. Melody Moore
Musical Director

A native of Harlem is noted for her musical gifts and talents. She is an accomplished Gospel Musician, Vocalist and Instructor and Choir Director for over 40years. (she is a Minister of Music and the Arts to sevral churches in NYC) For more than 20 years, she served as the Musical Director for Japanese gospel choir, also she provided instructional gospel music workshops in Japan. She is characterized by her for her energetic teaching techniques, creative directing methods and unique teaching approach to the Gospel Music. Furthermore she aspires to continue to let her God given name, "Melody" be an inspiration and life testament to share the Gospel in word and song to the world.