Coming to Staples Gospel singer Robert Robinson will present a concert at Centennial Auditorium in Staples Sunday, Mar. 21, at 2 p.m. The Star Tribune calls him the Pavarotti of gospel. Singer Robert Robinson will present a concert at Centennial Auditorium in Staples Sunday, Mar. 21, at 2 p.m.

The concert is a part of the Staples Motley Area Arts Council’s Concert Series. For more information, on this and other concerts in the series, check out the Arts Council’s website at www. staplesmotleyarts. org

There is a deep sense of goodness about Robert. He was six years old when he began singing at the North Minneapolis church where his father was the pastor and his mother led the music ministry. His mother quickly incorporated Robert, his brother and two sisters into the church music. By age 15 he was directing the choir, but it was not until around the age of 24 that he began to experiment with his prodigious musical gifts outside of the cocoon of the church community.

Since then his glorious voice has brought cheers and tears to an amazing cross section of America. That fact is illustrated by his wide ranging performance venues that include Carnegie Hall, Historic State Theater, Central Baptist Church, Red Wing Correctional Facility, 410 Homeless Shelter, Minneapolis Metrodome and the 1996 Billy Graham Crusade, to name but a few. He feels that his music can embrace people, even if they don’t embrace gospel.

He performed for 15 years with Lorie Line who said, “He had the gift to bring people to tears and to their feet, night after night. His voice literally stopped the show with applause every night in every city.”

Although Robert points to gospel greats Mahalia Jackson, Tramaine Hawkins and Vanessa Bell Armstrong (with whom he has performed) as inspiration, Robert Robinson works and lives in his own genre. Eventually it came time for him to forge a new path, combining his ministry of gospel with a vast experience rooted in soul.

Gospel music was popularized in African-American Baptist churches in the early 20th century, but it stems from 17th century spirit uals. When African slaves arrived in the New Wo rl d , their masters took away their drums. Slaves created their own beats by clapping hands and stomping feet, augmenting spirituals framed by “calland response” formats. African American religious music evolved with instruments, verses, and refrains, and, over the decades, new urban music.

The Arts Council’s series for this season will conclude next month with Canadian fiddler April Verch.

Tickets are available from the Centennial Auditorium Box Office at 218- 894-5416 or 800-213-6877. The Arts Council has two new ways to save on tickets. Anyone purchasing six or more advance sale tickets to any event, or series of events, will receive a special season price. Any student with proper ID can purchase a student rush ticket one hour before the show.