INTERNATIONALLY-ACCLAIMED JUANITA BYNUM AND GRAMMY® AWARD WINNERS YOLANDA ADAMS, PASTOR SHIRLEY CAESAR AND THE CLARK SISTERS FEATURED ON THE WOMEN EMPOWERMENT GOSPEL FESTIVAL AT RADIO CITY MUSIC HALL ON SATURDAY, APRIL 19

 

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(New York, NY - March 26, 2008) -- On The Rocks Entertainment, Inc. presents the Women Empowerment Gospel Festival at Radio City Music Hall in New York City on Saturday, April 19, 2008, 8:00 p.m.  The event will be hosted by Juanita Bynum and will feature performances by a dynamic line up of GRAMMY® Award winning artists including Yolanda Adams, Pastor Shirley Caesar and The Clark Sisters.  Tickets are available at Radio City Music Hall Box Office or (212) 307-4111, www.radiocity.com or www.ticketmaster.com.

 

In addition to musical performances, the Rev. Dr. Carl L. Washington, current officiating pastor of New Mount Zion Baptist Church located in Harlem, New York will be a special guest speaker.  A host of celebrity speakers will join Rev. Washington in sharing positive and powerful messages for women of all spiritual backgrounds.  The event will give women the opportunity to come together and highlight the efforts of some of the most non-vocal, yet obedient disciples of the Lord.  Several women of the Gospel who are true advocates of inspirational empowerment for women and embody the power of worship and the impact that comes along with it will be honored during the event.

 

This event is the first promoted by On The Rocks Entertainment at a major union house.  The company founders, Derrick Sanders and Shelby Joyner, began the concert promotion company 13 years ago after coming to the realization that working a 9 to 5 job was not for them.  "We had a vision," states Sanders.  "We had the vision of taking 'On The Rocks Entertainment' from small local parties to the mainstream for concert promotions.  We went from a fan base of about 1,000 to over 10,000 strong. When everyone told us it couldn't happen, we proved them wrong every single time.  We are now moving to bigger venues like Radio City Music Hall and The Beacon Theater.  This is what dreams are made of.  We believe that.  Life is about the journey, not the destination."

 

The duo felt compelled to produce this event honoring women.  "We stepped out on faith to introduce the 'Women's Empowerment Gospel Concert,'" says Shelby Joyner, "because we have nothing without the Lord who guides us and we are embarking on a new journey towards concerts embracing an empowering movement.  This company is like our logo; the hardest substance in the world; we shine like no other; we are On The Rocks Entertainment Inc."

 

A portion of proceeds from the event will benefit The Corratta L. Walker Educational Scholarship Fund for Children, a foundation that provides enrichment and personal growth by providing financial assistance for educational opportunities to individuals 17 - 25 years of age who are committed to their education and the improvement of themselves and their communities while remaining in good standing and active membership of their religious institution.  The recipient must have the desire to make a difference in their personal life, as well as in the lives of others.  Established in 2006 as a trust by the surviving children of Ms. Walker -- Sidney, Darryl, Chandra, Ronald and Gregory -- the foundation is a memoriam that will allow these siblings to fulfill the legacy of their mother who believed so strongly in education and spiritual growth.  Through education and spiritual maturity Corratta improved herself and the living conditions for her family, as well as those who came in contact with her. This empowered her children to thirst for educational achievement and spiritual growth.

 
For information on On The Rocks Entertainment, please visit  www.ontherocksentertainmentinc.com.
 
ABOUT JUANITA BYNUM

Juanita BynumJuanita Bynum is an internationally-acclaimed teacher, prophet, psalmist, and media personality, as well as Founder and President of Juanita Bynum Ministries in Waycross, Georgia.  Dr. Bynum is the author of the critically-acclaimed NO MORE SHEETS, MY SPIRITUAL INHERITANCE, MATTERS OF THE HEART (which sold 500,000 copies in less than a year) and several other ground-breaking books, such as her latest New York Times best-seller, THE THRESHING FLOOR.  She is also a gifted vocalist with three powerful worship CDs, Morning Glory, Behind The Veil and A Piece of My Passion.

 

Dr. Bynum is a frequent radio and television guest.  The Juanita Bynum Show airs weekly on The Word Network and she serves as a regular host for Trinity Broadcasting Network's (TBN) "Praise the Lord" program, which is viewed by over 100 million people.  She has been featured on the cover of some of America's leading magazines, including ESSENCE and EBONY, as well as leading Christian magazines such as Charisma, Ministries Today and the Spirit-Led Woman, among many others.  Still, Prophetess Bynum has not swayed from her mission.  She candidly shares, "It's not about platforms; it's about people."  For more information on Juanita Bynum go to www.juanitabynum.com or www.myspace.com/officialjuanitabynum

 

ABOUT PASTOR SHIRLEY CAESAR

Pastor Shirley CaesarSince leaving the Caravans and striking out on her own 40 years ago, Pastor Shirley Caesar has been sweeping across America and around the world, delivering her Christian messages in electrifying song and sermon, picking up 11 GRAMMY Awards, 18 Gospel Music Association Dove Awards, 14 Stellar Awards, and numerous other honors along her path.  She has been a standard-bearer for traditional African-American gospel music, yet at the same time has been unafraid to challenge convention and take the genre in daring new directions.

 

Over the past three decades, Caesar has become easily the most visible gospel singer in the world. She has several CD collaborations with such artists as Al Green, Whitney Houston, Michelle Williams, Patti LaBelle, Gladys Knight, Faith Evans, Kirk Franklin, Dottie Peoples and Tonex. She also has appeared on numerous television series including "Good News," "Soulfood," and "The Parkers," on Broadway in "This Is My Song" and "Born to Sing," and in the motion pictures "Gospel," "The Preacher's Wife," "Rosewood," "Why Do Fools Fall in Love," "The Fighting Temptations," and "The Unseen." 

 

Pastor Caesar serves as co-pastor with her husband Bishop Harold Ivory Williams at Mount Calvary Word of Faith Church in Raleigh, North Carolina.  For more information on Pastor Shirley Caesar go to www.shirleycaesar.com.

 

ABOUT YOLANDA ADAMSYolanda Adams

Ever since her late `80s debut Just As I Am, Yolanda Adams has triumphantly carried the torch for contemporary gospel and inspirational music via 12 glorious albums. Stunningly beautiful, exceptionally educated, filled with the spirit and blessed with one of the most powerful voices in any genre of music, this Houston-native and one-time school teacher has been a stately beacon of God's light, earning numerous accolades and awards for her shining efforts, including the first American Music Award for Contemporary Gospel Artist, four Gospel Music Association Dove Awards, four GRAMMY Awards, seven NAACP Image Awards, one Soul Train Music Award, and three BET Awards.

 

Now on Columbia Records, Adams can be heard on 14 radio stations (and counting) across the country with her barrier-breaking "The Yolanda Adams Morning Show," a program of her creation and ownership in thrilling conjunction with Radio One.  Most of Yolanda's fans know she was once a school teacher, but far less know that she earned her college degree in Radio/Television Broadcasting.  For more information on Yolanda Adams go to www.yolandaadams.org.

 

ABOUT THE CLARK SISTERS

Juanita BynumThe Clark Sisters have been singing for as long as they can remember, with music as natural a part of their lives as the air they breathed.  With a compelling, commanding fusion of styles as diverse as blues, jazz, R&B and classical, sisters Jacky, Twinkie, Karen and Dorinda created a sound that was new, fresh and entirely their own.  With a blend that can come only in the blood, they have stood for the better part of their lives as a bridge between hallowed tradition and bold innovation. 

 

The sisters, born between 1951 and 1960, all showed prodigious musical talent from early childhood, and were raised under the careful musical and moral tutelage of their pastor father, and renowned mother, Dr. Mattie Moss Clark.  From the early 1960s to 1990s, Dr. Clark, (1925-1994) was the president of the National Music Department (cq) of the seven-million-member Church of God in Christ (COGIC), the largest African-American, Pentecostal denomination in the United States.  A celebrated songwriter, vocalist, pianist and arranger, and widely known as a demanding taskmaster, Dr. Clark often used her talented "in-house" vocal ensemble to test-run new material and arrangements on which she was working.

 

The group's current EMI Gospel CD, Live - One Last Time,their first album together in over 12 years, is truly a landmark work.  The live recording comprises nearly two-and-a-half hours of both new material - almost all original - and an absolutely stunning, 21-song medley of Clark Sisters classics that garnered the group a 2008 GRAMMY Award. After two decades-plus of faithful service, this marked the quartet's very first well-deserved GRAMMY.  The Clark Sisters also won five Stellar Awards for Live - One Last Time.  The Gospel Hall of Famers were also recipients of the esteemed "President's Merit Award for Lifetime Achievement" at the GRAMMY Salute To Gospel (June 2007).  For more information go to www.theclarksisters.com or www.myspace.com/officiallytheclarksisters.

CONTACTS:
 
Gwendolyn Quinn                                      Robyn Ryland-Sanders
GQ Media & Public Relations, Inc.                 GQ Media & Public Relations, Inc.
212.765.7910                                           212.765.7910
gwendolynquinn@aol.com                           gqmediapr@yahoo.com

About GQ Media & Public Relations, Inc.

In 2002, Gwendolyn Quinn founded GQ Media & Public Relations, Inc. a full-service publicity and marketing firm that specializes in developing stratagem and coordinating special events, brand development and entertainment marketing for clients who span the worlds of music, performing arts (theatre), corporate, not-for-profit, faith-based, and the visual/fine arts.