Multi-genre recording artist and the Sphinx Medal of Excellence recipient Damien L. Sneed presents Everyone Has a Place at a series of film festivals this summer. Sneed stars in the documentary alongside his mentor, Pulitzer Prize winner and nine-time GRAMMY® Award winner, Wynton Marsalis in the new PBS film by Dennis Scholl of the Knight Foundation and Marlon Johnson, a six-time Emmy award-winning producer and director.
Earlier this year, Everyone Has a Place premiered on Charlotte’s PBS station WTVI and Detroit’s PBS station WTVS. The film captures his journey as the musical conductor of the 2013 historic performance of the Abyssinian Mass by Wynton Marsalis during the 16-city national tour. The film also features the world-renowned Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra and Sneed’s 70-piece Chorale LeChateau. The documentary was filmed at Charlotte’s Friendship Missionary Baptist Church. Everyone Has a Place will air this fall during the 2015 and 2016 seasons on over 150 local PBS stations across the country.
Sneed recently presented Everyone Has a Place at the Macon Film Festival in Macon, GA; upcoming screenings include the BlackStar Film Festival (August 1) and the Capital City Black Film Festival (August 13-15). Everyone Has a Placemarks the film debut of Sneed’s 200 member Chorale LeChateau. Founded by Sneed in 2009, Choral LeChateau has gained a global reputation for its vivid interpretations of vocal literature, from Renaissance period pieces to art songs to jazz, spirituals, gospel, and avant garde contemporary music. Members hail from various parts of the world and come from various performing arts institutions and venues such as The Juilliard School, The Metropolitan Opera, Howard University, Yale University, The City University of New York and more. Ensemble members include professionals, GRAMMY® Award winners, college professors, students and ministers. Chorale LeChateau has performed in concerts and other events around the world.
The live recording of Abyssinian Mass featuring Chorale LeChateau will be released on Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Blue Engine Records; no release date has been scheduled at this time.
To view clips of the Abyssinian Mass, see links below:
Damien Sneed & Wynton Marsalis Interview — Video #1
Abyssinian Wynton Marsalis on Damien — Video # 2
Abyssinian Video # 3 about Chorale Le Chateau
Abyssinian Mass FULL PERFORMANCE — Video #4
