7th Annual Hudson Valley Gospel Festival
Melissa Dvozenja-Thomas, Executive Director, Arts Mid-Hudson
There is something powerful that happens when voices come together. Gospel music can fill a room with sound, but its impact reaches far beyond the notes being sung. Rooted in faith, history, storytelling, and community, gospel has long provided a way to express joy and hope, persevere through hardship, and bring generations together. It is a tradition meant not simply to be heard, but to be felt. On Saturday, September 26, that tradition will fill the Family Partnership Center in Poughkeepsie as Arts Mid-Hudson presents the 7th Annual Hudson Valley Gospel Festival. Bringing together artists from Dutchess, Ulster, and Orange Counties, the afternoon celebrates gospel through music, movement, faith, and community.
Gospel has deep roots in Poughkeepsie, where its growth is closely connected to the city’s historically Black churches and faith communities. Institutions including Ebenezer Baptist Church, founded in 1893 as Poughkeepsie’s first African American Baptist church, created important spaces for worship, music, and community gathering. Across generations, gospel traditions evolved, incorporating influences from jazz, soul, spoken word, and contemporary music while remaining grounded in the communal experience of raising voices together.
That sense of community remains at the heart of the festival. The Hudson Valley Gospel Festival Choir, led by Dinesa Hansen Johnson, is a multi-generational ensemble of local singers who rehearse for months leading up to the performance. Each singer arrives with an individual voice and experience, but together they create the collective sound that has defined gospel traditions for generations. The Hudson Lily of the Valley Praise Dancers, led by Linda Molina, will bring another form of expression to the stage, using movement to share in that tradition.
The afternoon will also introduce audiences to gospel artists from across the region, each with their own connection to the music. Newburgh gospel singer and songwriter Sabrina Sargent began singing in her church choir at an early age, eventually traveling to other states to share gospel music. Today, music remains woven throughout her life. She balances performing and songwriting with careers as an elementary school teacher and college professor, even incorporating singing into her classrooms as a way to inspire and connect with students.
The Fishers of Men Choir of Bethel Missionary Baptist Church in Wappingers Falls brings another expression of gospel’s church and community roots. Through their ministry of song, the men’s choir shares a message of faith and fellowship. Together, these performers reflect what has allowed gospel to endure: traditions passed between generations, individual voices becoming part of something larger, and music creating a place for people to gather.
Doors open at 2 p.m., with the program beginning at 2:30 p.m. Pre-sale tickets are $20 for adults and $15 for students, seniors, veterans, and active military; children under five are free. Sliding-scale admission will also be available at the door, ensuring that cost does not prevent anyone from joining the celebration.
Whether gospel has been part of your life for generations or you’re experiencing it for the first time, the Hudson Valley Gospel Festival is an invitation to gather and experience a living cultural tradition together. Because when voices come together, they do more than create music; they carry history forward.
If you go:
7th Annual Hudson Valley Gospel Festival
Family Partnership Center, 29 North Hamilton Street, Poughkeepsie, NY 12601
September 26, 2026
Doors Open: 2:00 p.m. Program Starts: 2:30 pm
Contact: 845-454-3222
vanessa@artsmidhudson.org
www.artsmidhudson.org/hv-gospel-fest
