Members of the Arkansas Gospel Mass Choir are leaving for Las Vegas next week hoping to scoop up several trophies at the 30th annual Stellar Gospel Music Awards show.
The choir, which includes members from all over Arkansas, has been named as a finalist in six award categories, including Song of the Year for their hit single and title track, "You Alone." They are also finalists for Choir of the Year, CD of the Year, Traditional CD of the Year, Traditional Choir of the Year and Praise and Worship CD of the Year.
In the Song of the Year category, the choir is up against music superstars -- Beyonce, Michelle Williams and Kelly Rowland -- former members of Destiny's Child, whose song "Say Yes" went to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot Gospel Songs chart last year.
The Arkansas Gospel Mass Choir's single hit No. 3 on the same chart, putting them in elite company.
Choir founder Charles Moore says topping the charts and winning awards is secondary to the choir's mission of sharing the Gospel but finding out about the six nominations was exciting.
"I almost fainted," he said. "To be nominated for so many categories, it was surreal, but the intent in doing the choir was to have a group of people who wanted to sing and minister. We just thought we'd be singing wherever we got the opportunity. We didn't know the whole world would hear us."
Moore formed the choir in 2007. He had been a member of the Georgia Mass Choir for 14 years before moving to Bentonville and he wanted to start something similar in Arkansas. The group, then with 132 members drawn from across the state, had its first concert in March that year.
So far the group has recorded three CDs -- Hold on for Life, Live to Worship and You Alone. They received Stellar Award nominations for the first two recordings but did not reach the finalist level.
Today, the choir has more than 80 members and 25 of them will be making the trip to Las Vegas to see if they can bring home their first Stellar Awards.
The group will perform during a preshow extravaganza with other gospel singers and groups on Friday and the awards show will be held the following evening. The choir will perform again at an after-party before boarding planes early the next morning to return to Arkansas. Between rehearsals and performances they'll also have time to explore Las Vegas.
The group is multiracial and includes a wide range of ages, from young adults to older folks -- all brought together by their love of gospel music and a desire to share the message of Christ through song. Choir members are proud of their diversity and enjoy the friendships they have made. They laugh and tease and joke like a tightknit family.
Tony Newton, who has been around since the choir started, serves as photographer and documents the group's travels and concerts.
"It's been amazing," Newton said. "The thing I love is everybody is from different churches and it really works. We appreciate the diversity."
"We have all denominations, black, white, all races," said choir member Joel Miley. "We have cashiers, doctors, young and old."
Windy Carr, Verda Watson, Constance Fisher and Ocie Fisher all attend St. James Missionary Baptist Church in Fayetteville and sing in the church choir there. When they heard about the formation of the Arkansas Gospel Mass Choir, they showed up ready to sing from day one. They were likewise thrilled by the nominations.
"We were jumping for joy," Carr said. "Arkansas ought to be proud of us."
The friends say they enjoy the travel and the fellowship and meeting people they otherwise would never have known.
"We're all like a family in this choir," Carr said.
Joanna Washington said the album has reached listeners outside the United States and the choir has heard uplifting feedback, especially about the single "You Alone."
"'You Alone' has been such a blessing. To watch the connection made across the U.S., people hearing us outside the U.S. and talking about how much the song has meant to them. God has blessed this choir a lot," she said.
Information on the choir is available online at agmchoir.com. Information about the Stellar Awards is available at thestellarawards.com.
Religion on 03/21/2015