REGINA BELLE: HIGHER
WHEN: Friday, May 29, 2015, 8 PM
WHERE: South Orange Performing Arts Center (SOPAC), 1 SOPAC Way, South Orange
TICKETS: To purchase tickets, contact SOPAC at 973.313.ARTS (2787) or visit www.SOPACnow.org.
Former Englewood resident and Grammy Award-winner, Regina Belle, comes to the South Orange Performing Arts Center onperformance. The four-time Grammy and Academy award-winning New Jersey native achieved worldwide acclaim for her duet with Peabo Bryson, “A Whole New World," from Disney's 1992 animated feature Aladdin.
With hits like the R&B single “Ooh Boy,” smooth jazz favorites such as “Make It Like It Was,” and gospel greats including “God is Good” and “Make an Example Out of Me,” Belle’s career has been blessed with longevity beyond the original spotlight in which she first appeared. From her studies at the Manhattan School of Music to her break-through audition for The Manhattans, from strolling the red carpet at award ceremonies to walking across the Rutgers School of Arts and Sciences stage to receive her long-awaited degree this past weekend, Regina Belle has stood her ground through faith, hard work and God-given talent.
Through the years, the singer has had one platinum and two gold-selling albums in addition to performing with a host of renowned artists including Ray Charles, Al Jarreau, Johnny Mathis, and Stephanie Mills. In the past decade, she has somewhat returned to her roots, expanding on the gospel repertoire she began with as a young musician growing up in the Baptist churches of Englewood and Patterson, New Jersey.
Not only is Belle a life-long learner and performer, she is also a testament to the healing powers of faith and good doctors, having been diagnosed and treated for a brain tumor in 2009. Her latest album, Higher (2012), speaks to her journey, delivering the message, “music helps people get to a special place…that place is a closer walk with God, one that is sweeter, deeper, richer and higher!”
Although now residing in Atlanta, Georgia and serving as minister of music at New Shield of Faith Christian Ministries with her senior pastor husband and former NBA player, John S. Battle III, also a Rutgers grad and Scarlet Knight, Belle returns to the tristate area to perform later this month.
SOPAC programs are made possible in part by the New Jersey State Council on the Arts.
The South Orange Performing Arts Center (SOPAC) is a 501(c)(3)charitable organization.
