From being featured on America’s Got Talent (AGT) to holding the key to the City of Detroit — the Detroit Youth Choir (DYC) continues to capture and amaze Detroiters and the nation with their talent and craft.
The DYC, a 2021 Stellar Award winning choir for ‘best youth program’ will be adding another accomplishment to its roster as the host of their own inaugural Gala: Celebrating 25
Years of Music, from 6-10 p.m. Saturday, September 18 at the Charles H. Wright Museum of
African American History, located at 315 E. Warren Ave.
Join DYC for an evening featuring a special awards presentation honoring Detroit’s leaders, heroes, sheroes, dinner, and Detroit’s most celebrated youth choir as they uplift us with their voices and share the glory of music. Early bird tickets are $105, and are on sale now at Eventbrite and via
DetroitYouthChoir.org/events.
“We are so excited to be celebrating our 25th anniversary with our first annual gala featuring a special
awards presentation, dinner and concert performance from our award winning DYC choir,’ said Anthony T. White, artistic director at Detroit Youth Choir Performing Arts Company.
“It’s been an incredible and challenging past 18 months for our staff and young people at DYC. We
ended 2019 on such a high note, with a phenomenal run on America’s Got Talent (AGT) – making our
way all the way to finals, and placing second in the competition. With the outpouring of support and donations that came from Detroit, nationally, and around the world, it gave our program and the kids
such an emotional boost and feeling of achievement. When Mayor Mike Duggan presented DYC with the key to the City of Detroit, and later winning a Stellar Award for ‘best youth project,’ it has been an
unimaginable dream come true,” White said, adding that some “dark days” were ahead for the choir, however, due to the pandemic.
“It was challenging for us to keep our spirits high at DYC. During Governor Whitmer’s stay-home, stay-safe executive orders, we worked hard to keep in touch with our kids,” he said, adding that from Zoom engagements to occasional in-studio recording opportunities, the group stayed together through ti all. “Unfortunately, several of our kids contracted COVID-19, two of our kids lost a parent to the virus, and I contracted the coronavirus before I was able to become fully vaccinated.”
Next Saturday, is their time to shine and it’s their moment at the DYC 1st Annual Gala: Celebrating 25 Years of Music, which will feature a special awards presentation from notable locals.
In July 2021, DYC was honored with a Stellar Award for their rendition of the song ‘Glory,’ originally
written and performed by the R&B superstar John Legend and hip-hop artist Common for the motion
picture movie ‘Selma.” The track won an Academy Award (The Oscar) for ‘Best Original Song’ in 2015.
“The biggest triumph for DYC during the pandemic was our recording and performance of ‘Glory.’ When I think of the Stellar Awards, I think about artists such as Kirk Franklin or the Clark Sisters,” added White. “For our organization (DYC) to win a Stellar Award is mind blowing. Now our kids can walk around proudly and say they are part of a Stellar Award-winning organization…as a young person how cool is that?”
For more information on the Detroit Youth Choir 1st Annual Gala: Celebrating 25 Years of Music, please
visit online at, DetroitYouthChoir.org, Facebook@DetroitYouthConcertChoir, Twitter@DYCOffical,
Instagram@DYCOfficial, or via email at info@DetroitYouthChoir.org.
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