By KENNY KEANE, Globe staff reporter
Posted March 20, 2003

The Cathedral Arts Guild will soon be offering a form of entertainment that within the last year seemed to only be found at the Sioux City Orpheum Theatre.

The National Spiritual Ensemble, a group of nine African-American singers based in Washington, D.C., will perform at 7:30 p.m. on March 28 at the Cathedral of the Epiphany.

The group's founder and director, Vincent Dion Stringer, describes the traditional American Negro spirituals that form his ensemble's repertoire and frame its mission as "songs that soothe the soul."

According to Matthew Geerlings, director of music and liturgy for Cathedral, the guild wanted to find a group to perform that would appeal to a larger cross section of the Siouxland community.

With that in mind they went in search, and Geerlings said it was sort of fortuitous at the time because the group had just performed for one of his colleagues at the Cathedral in Cincinnati.

"He said they are the most requested group he has on their concert series at his cathedral, and it's a sellout every time," Geerlings said."I talked to him about having them here during Lent as a way of combining the Lenten season with a sense of personal inner peace, and he said this group really evokes that in the music that they do."

As for what those in attendance can expect from the concert, Geerlings said they will be educated because the American Negro spiritual is more than just a genre of music.

"The text sometimes has a double meaning," he said. "On one side it might talk about religious aspects, but in other ways it would give slaves who wanted to escape from the plantation directions on where to go.

"I think when people come here they'll go away with a greater sense of the struggles of the slaves that were here but also the hope that they had in Jesus as their personal savior and how they were able to overcome some of the obstacles that they had in life."

Someone who devoted her life to the arts is Barbara Barker Warner, and Geerlings said the concert will be dedicated in her memory.

Cecil Oggle, a member of the guild, was a family friend of the Warner's, and he suggested that they honor her because she was very diverse in the arts as a teacher, scholar, administrator and professional dancer.

"She and Jim (Warner) participated in a lot of events here in Sioux City, including the Sioux City Art Center and especially with the Sioux City Symphony," Oggle said. "Barbara was a person who reached out to many people and cultures. Since at the Cathedral we are multicultural, I thought it would be appropriate to have someone who is like that be honored."

Geerlings said he asked for a 90-minute program with intermission, and there will be a small reception afterwards in the Cathedral hall. Tickets are $10 for adults and $7 for students and seniors. For more information on this event, contact the Cathedral at (712) 255-1637.

"I think this is one of those rare opportunities that we have to hear a group like this in our Cathedral," Geerlings said. "You combine their talent with the acoustical ambiance of the Cathedral, and I think we've got a win-win situation."