Lehman Center for the Performing Arts is proud to present MCDONALD’S GOSPELFEST with legendary artists YOLANDA ADAMS, SHIRLEY CAESAR, DORINDA CLARK COLE, and KAREN CLARK SHEARD, on Mother’s Day Weekend, Friday, May 9th, 2025, at 8 PM. This one-night-only show promises to deliver a phenomenal celebration of life, with amazing Gospel talent, celebrating its 42nd Anniversary.
Three-time Emmy-winning Producer and Director A. CURTIS FARROW has done it again, gathering the best talent in gospel music for an uplifting and spiritual production.
YOLANDA ADAMS, currently starring in BET’s Kingdom Business, is one of the best-selling gospel artists of all time, having sold 10 million albums worldwide. Her career began as a singer with Houston’s Southeast Inspirational Choir after years of being a school teacher. After signing to the label Sounds of Gospel, her debut album, Just as I Am, was released in 1987. In 1999, her breakout album, Mountain High, Valley Low was released. The album was a platinum-selling success, which helped launch her career. After the release of her 2011 album Becoming, Adams took a break to explore being a radio host until 2016.
YOLANDA ADAMS made a great return to music in 2024 with her comeback, Sunny Days. She has won multiple awards, including four Grammy Awards, four Dove Awards, five BET Awards, six NAACP Image Awards, six Soul Train Music Awards, two BMI Awards, and sixteen Stellar Awards. Adams was also the first Gospel artist to be awarded an American Music Award.
SHIRLEY CAESAR, known as the First Lady of Gospel, began her professional music career in 1958 at the age of nineteen. From a young age, she began singing at local churches to help bring money into her household for her family. Caesar became a traveling performer with evangelist Leroy Johnson before signing a record deal for a single for Federal Records, I’d Rather Have Jesus in 1951. SHIRLEY CAESAR was a part of the celebrated female gospel group the Caravans for several years before going solo in 1961 with her single Hallelujah, It’s Done. In 2000, she was inducted into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame. Caesar performed for former President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama at the White House, and, in 2016, was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. She is the recipient of Eleven Grammy Awards, fourteen Stellar Awards, and fifteen Dove Awards.
DORINDA CLARK COLE is a Grammy Award-winning gospel singer, songwriter, musician, talk show host, and evangelist. She began singing at just 5 years old in church with her sisters. Best known as a member of the family vocal group The Clark Sisters and as a daughter of pioneering choral director Mattie Moss Clark. In 2002, her debut solo album, which included one of her biggest hits, I’m Coming Out was released. DORINDA CLARK COLE also put out hits like Take it Back in 2008 and Living It in 2015. Her first release in nearly a decade, Great and Mighty, was released in 2023. As a member of The Clark Sisters, she has won two Grammy Awards.
KAREN CLARK SHEARD is the youngest member of gospel group, the Clark Sisters, which was formed in 1973. She began singing in church with her sisters when she was 7 years old. Also the mother of contemporary gospel singer and actress Kierra “Kiki” Sheard, with whom she frequently collaborates. Throughout her career, KAREN CLARK SHEARD has released five solo albums and seventeen with the Clark Sisters. During the hiatus of the Clark Sisters, she recorded her debut studio album Finally Karen (1997), which spawned the single, Balm in Gilead.
Finally Karen was among the highest-selling gospel albums of that year, and earned her a Grammy Award nomination and a Soul Train Lady of Soul Award for “Best Female Vocalist”. After a scary near-death experience, KAREN CLARK SHEARD was inspired to write 2nd Chance, her second album. The 2023 Clark Sister Reunion Tour then inspired her 2024 album Still Karen.
Lehman Center for the Performing Arts, Inc. is supported, in part, by public funds through the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the New York City Council and the Bronx Delegation. Additional funding is provided by the New York State Council on the Arts with support from the office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature. We are thrilled to share that Goya Foods has agreed to renew their sponsorship for this season which will help Lehman Center expand our reach to the community.
In addition, we have secured funding from the Howard Gilman Foundation to help grow our programming. The 2024-2025 season is also made possible through sponsorships by Con Edison, Havana Café, Friends of Lehman Center, and our cherished audience members.
Lehman Center for the Performing Arts is located on the campus of Lehman College/CUNY at 250 Bedford Park Boulevard West, Bronx, NY 10468. Tickets for MCDONALD’S GOSPELFEST on Friday, May 9th, 2025, at 8 PM ($100, $75, $65, $50, $35) can be purchased by calling the Lehman Center box office at 718-960-8833 (Monday through Friday, 10am–5pm, and beginning at 4pm on the day of the concert), or through online access at https://www.lehmancenter.org/events/gospelfest-2025. Lehman Center is accessible by #4 or D train to Bedford Park Blvd. and is off the Saw Mill River Parkway and the Major Deegan Expressway.
