Erin Nicole Neal

Ohio Regional Music Arts and Cultural Outreach (ORMACO) and the Medina County District
Library present Cleveland-based musician Erin Nicole Neal in a program titled Traditional and
Contemporary Gospel Music, Erin will discuss the history of gospel music, its development and
its influence on culture and its importance in such movements such as the civil rights movement
of the 50s and 60s. She also will discuss gospel music’s influence on contemporary secular
music as well as on popular singers including Aretha Franklin, Whitney Houston, Sam Cooke,
Al Green and many more. Erin also will explore gospel singers and songwriters such as Thomas
A. Dorsey, Mahalia Jackson, James Cleveland, The Soul Stirrers and Shirley Ceasar.