Spring Valley High School’s Voices in Praise Gospel Choir In connection with and to honor Black History Month, a local Columbia group will be traveling to New York City Saturday to try their luck in the 10th annual Pathmark Gospel Choir Competition.

Choirs from around the country and that are well known in their own communities will be competing for the $1,000 grand prize.

Spring Valley High School’s Voices in Praise Gospel Choir will be representing the Palmetto State in this year’s competition at the World Financial Center on February 27. Choir sponsor, Sheila Jones, said it is an honor to be chosen to go, but she definitely wants her choir to win the competition. She said that first prize was $1000, but there was money for second and third prizes as well. The Pathmark Company will be handing out $10,000 in total prize money.

“This year we made a DVD of the choir singing and sent it in for the judging,” she said. “They watched it and liked us so we were chosen to go to the city and compete,”

“This is our third year in the competition and our first year we came in third,” Jones said.

“I truly believe we can win this year. In fact I believe we will.”

The choir is directed by Ty Williams but since it’s a school organization, it must have an advisor who works at the school, Jones said.

The choir has 25 members, but only 19 will be going to the Big Apple for the competition. Jones said that financial issues kept the whole choir from attending.

“We had to do a lot of fundraising to be able to go,” she said. “We were sponsored by several restaurants in the community like Chic-Fil-A and Taco Bell that let us sell coupons. We held bake sales and sold candy too. We had a breakfast fundraiser at Applebee’s too. It was a lot of work, but it will be worth it when we get there.”

One thing Jones said she was particularly proud of was the diversity in the choir.

“This is a function that is put on in February to honor African Americans, and when people hear about a gospel choir they tend to think the singers will all be black. But our choir has white singers, too, and I hope that shows people that the gospel songs are for everyone,” she said.

The choir’s repertoire includes the old religious songs as well as contemporary tunes, Jones said.

“Some of the songs we do can be heard on today’s religious radio stations all the time,” she said.

This year the festivities will be led by Tony Award winning actor/singer/dancer, Ben Vereen.

Pathmark is part of the Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company and is the umbrella company for 433 supermarkets in eight states and the District of Columbia.

“The Pathmark Gospel Choir Competition is a natural extension of the company’s strong ties to the communities,” the company website said.

Jones said the students are eager and ready.

“They are competition ready, and they are focused,” she said. “They are ready to present themselves nationally with their songs and their spirit.”