Juneteenth Opening

On Friday, a special concert will be held at Richards Chapel located at 831 McKaig Ave. in Troy, Ohio. The concert will feature the Deron Bell Band with the “History of Gospel Music.” Deron believes that gospel music played a very important role in the history of many genres of music. “All good things come from gospel music,” he says. “So many things came out of those gospel traditions. Talking about gospel music and playing gospel music is one of my favorite things in the world to do. There is a rich and powerful history here and it is important to understand these connections.”

Deron Bell is the drummer at Second Baptist Church in Springfield, Ohio and is the Music Director for the Dayton Contemporary Dance Company. Since 2009 he has assisted in coordinating musicians and community choir members for the inspirational production “In The Spirit Of.” Bell is a well-known music-maker in Dayton and has been recognized both regionally and nationally. Throughout his long career he has performed with Boney James, Walter Beasley, Peabo Bryson, James Brown, The Manhattans, ZAPP, Shirley Murdock, Pamela Wilson and Bootsy Collins just to scratch the surface. He has performed with the Dayton Philharmonic and pre-show entertainment for the Blue Man Group and the Lion King at the Benjamin & Marian Schuster Performing Arts Center and for Naturally 7 and the Magic of Motown at the Arbogast Performing Arts Center in Troy, OH.

The Juneteenth Opening concert will be at Richards Chapel at 831 McKaig Ave. on Friday, June 20. A special reception will begin at 5:30 pm for an art exhibition by Troy City School students called, “Before, During, After…Historical Influence of African and African American music on United States history.” It will be curated by the outstanding art instructors at the Troy City Schools. The concert will start at 6:30 pm. No reservations or tickets are necessary. This special concert is in collaboration with IDEA Troy, Richards Chapel and The Troy-Hayner Cultural Center.