About Us
Songs of Solomon: An Inspirational Ensemble preserves traditional inspirational music while creating a disciplined, welcoming environment for young people and adult members across cultures, backgrounds, and musical experience.
Choir
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Songs of Solomon: An Inspirational Ensemble was founded in 2001 by veteran conductor Bishop Chantel Renee Wright to serve the global community through music. The ensemble is rooted in the belief that arts education nurtures children spiritually and intellectually while strengthening families through youth development.
In 2003, the organization transitioned from Queens to Harlem, presenting its debut concert at Aaron Davis Hall with Twinkie Clark, Lorraine Stancil, and Melonie Daniels. SOS draws membership from across the Tri-State area and intentionally creates a safe, empowering environment where young people can thrive.
In 2014, the Songs of Solomon Choral Union was established to serve young people nationwide who seek to share the Good News through gospel music. As an approved vendor with the New York City Department of Education, SOS provides direct student services and professional development for public schools.
The SHACK 2.0 remains a vital resource within the Rangel Housing Community, offering after-school programming in martial arts, culinary arts, drumline, and cosmetology. Its partnership with the Department of Youth and Community Development has contributed to a transformative cultural shift within the community.
The ensemble has appeared at the Well-Being Summit in Bilbao and the Hearth Summit in Ljubljana, and has performed alongside Earth, Wind & Fire, Carole King, Elton John, and Aretha Franklin. SOS also participates in Carnegie Hall's Creative Learning Project, Musical Connections, and Count Me In initiatives.
SOS continues community outreach with Carnegie Hall and the New York City Department of Juvenile Justice. It has recorded Variations of the War Cry, toured across the United States, Africa, Bermuda, Canada, Italy, and Spain, and serves in churches, corporations, and premier performance venues.
Mission statement
Songs of Solomon: An Inspirational Ensemble, Inc. is committed to performing inspirational music and preserving the integrity of music reflective of the African Diaspora.
We seek to foster musical excellence and provide a safe haven for youth of diverse spiritual, artistic, and social experiences, in an environment free of prejudice and judgment.
Through our music, we strive to serve, uplift, educate, and inspire the world community.
Vision statement
We envision the Inspirational Ensemble as possessors of land and property to ensure that children in underserved communities everywhere have a safe haven for expression.
We envision the Ensemble as an institution for the development of the whole child, emotionally, intellectually, and spiritually.
We envision the Ensemble as ambassadors of love throughout the world through tours, workshops, recording, and concerts.
We envision Songs of Solomon Academy for the Arts as the global model for arts education that will empower children in underserved communities.
We envision Songs of Solomon Academy for the Arts as the leader in employment of underserved professional artists who are capable of providing instruction in vocal, instrumental, textile, and culinary arts.
We are a progressive people who have dedicated our energy and every resource to create a safe haven for children of diverse spiritual, artistic, and social experiences, in an environment free of prejudice and judgment.
Bishop Chantel Renee Wright
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Founder and director
Bishop Dr. Chantel R. Wright is an internationally celebrated choir director, educator, and the visionary founder of Reach Covenant Ministries International, formerly Pneuma Ministries International. A native of Chicago, she began her career as an award-winning choral conductor and earned a BA in Music Education from VanderCook College of Music.
Her professional career began in Atlanta, where she served on the music staff of Ebenezer Baptist Church and as an educator in DeKalb County Public Schools. In New York, she became Director of the Girls Choir of Harlem, Minister of Music at Macedonia Baptist Church, and Artistic Director of the Queens Symphony Orchestra Youth Gospel Choir.
Bishop Wright established Songs of Solomon to showcase her unique vision. The ensemble has appeared on major television networks, won the Pathmark Gospel Choir Competitions and McDonald's Gospelfest, performed at the U.S. Tennis Open, and collaborated with artists including Kelly Clarkson, Fantasia Barrino, Elton John, Jessye Norman, and Earth, Wind & Fire.
Deeply committed to the spiritual, intellectual, and artistic growth of young people, she established the Songs of Solomon Academy for the Arts. The Academy has maintained partnerships with Professional Performing Arts School, Brooklyn School of Music and Theater, West Prep Academy, and the Harlem School of the Arts.
Bishop Wright has been sought out as a choral clinician nationally and internationally, including for the Harare International Festival of the Arts, the Roma Gospel Festival, the Ithaca Gospel Music Festival, the Fede Gospel Festival, and the Coro Gospel Festival. She holds a PhD in Theology and serves as a New York State Chaplain.
As a licensed and ordained Bishop within the Kingdom Life Apostolic Movement, she established Pneuma Ministries International, now Reach Covenant Ministries International. She is also Choral Union President of the Thomas Dorsey National Convention of Gospel Choirs and Choruses.
