Morgan Minsk

Award-winning vocalist, performer, Berklee graduate, and composer, Morgan Minsk is set to release her first album, titled Praise at midnight on May 11, 2018. The album is a compilation of 9 songs which are close to Minsk's heart, and include vivid storytelling, inspiring worship, and meaningful lyricism. There are new, fuller arrangements of well-known favorites on this album, such as "Praise", "Pictures of Time", and "Plans", as well as completely new material, such as the country rock story "Humble Heart". The music covers a spectrum of emotions, both energetic and reflective.

Praise is recorded and mixed by 3x Grammy nominee Warren Babson and mastered by 9x Grammy nominee and 2x Grammy winner Randy Merrill. The album was completely crowdfunded with $25K by Minsk's fans, friends, and family.

Minsk described her music. "My music is like a mix between India Arie and Joseph," she said. "I also have strong roots in world music, which I love to sprinkle especially into the percussion parts. Singers like Dido and The Cranberries have this subtle, otherworldly yodel in some of their pieces, which I also love. With Dido being one of the first singers I ever listened to on my own, she influences a lot of my vocals in songs like Praise. Being a Berklee grad with a long history of Jazz performance, I also have that stringing along through the album," she stated.

Minsk discussed the recording process with Warren Babson.

"Recording with Warren was so natural," she said. "The studio was always filled with laughter. I am a natural perfectionist, so I would often berate myself about certain songs, asking myself why I was even doing this project in the first place, etc--and Warren would always know what to say to get the ball rolling again. A few songs on that album might have been trashed in the early stages if it hadn't been for Warren's wisdom and encouragement!"

She also talked about what she hopes her audience will take away from the album,

"My hope is that Praise reaches a few different kinds of people--those searching for raw authenticity and meaning amidst the typical "bubblegum perfection-type" Christian music," she said. I want it to reach those who are hurting and need refreshment. And those who are already Christians and just want to be inspired. My hope is that people can enjoy this music and be touched by it regardless of their religious beliefs." she said. - The Christian Beat

A 24-year-old Springfield native is set to release her first album on May 11, a nine-song, completely crowd-funded compilation of songs that is just the latest highlight in her lifelong musical journey.

“I have been singing as long as I have been able to speak,” said Morgan Minsk. “I wrote my first song when I was probably about 4. It wasn’t like a masterpiece or anything, but it kind of set the stage for my love of music.”

Minsk will release “Praise” at midnight May 11, preceded by an 8 p.m. pre-launch party in Lowell, Massachusetts, where she lives. The album is a compilation of songs which are close to her heart and include “vivid storytelling, inspiring worship, and meaningful lyricism,” Minsk said.

“My mother would sing ‘Jesus Loves Me’ and ask me to sing it Whitney Houston style when I was a very young child growing up in Springfield,” Minsk said. “Music has always been a part of my life. When I was in the third grade I picked up the saxophone, and as time went on I added piano, guitar, clarinet and bass guitar.”

The album was financed entirely by a $25,000 crowdfunding campaign in June, which required a leap of faith that Minsk said was even greater than the decision to do the album.

“It was scary because $25,000 is a lot to put out there to try and crowdfund. It was a huge test of faith,” Minsk said. “I prayed to God and told Him I really believe this music can change the world, can heal hearts, and help people in their darkest moments to see the light.”

“I also prayed ‘God, if this is not part of your will and you have a better plan, then I pray that you would not have the album funded,’” Minsk said.

But funded it was, and now nearly a year later the album full of what Minsk calls “Christian folk soul” with “this kind of tribal feeling, a really raw, earthy, crunchy thing” is set to go public.

“I’ve never really enjoyed contemporary Christian music,” Minsk said. “I enjoy the lyrics and the meaning behind it, but there’s always been a piece of me that’s felt like the songwriting was a little contrived or just not really authentic.”


“The way I see Jesus reaching out to people isn’t by saying ‘my life is perfect and everything’s great,’ Jesus reaches out to people in their deepest, darkest moments,” Minsk said. “The lyricism in this album is real. There are some songs that talk about some dark moments in my past and about the human struggle. They ultimately show that even in the greatest struggles Jesus is there, and He can change anyone and anything.”

That healing lyricism extends to Minsk’s other chosen profession, music therapy, and she has seen the power that music has to transform those who have experienced severe trauma in their lives. Her work with Ugandan child soldiers is an example.

“They had PTSD and all of these other issues that they had to deal with, and the music just really took them out of that place and allowed them to have those images out of their minds for a few minutes,” Minsk said.

Minsk attended Springfield High School and received a full scholarship to attend Berklee College of Music in Lowell. Minsk’s mother, Jacqueline Williams, feels the Berklee experience has been a springboard for her daughter’s talent.

“She definitely has a voice that needs to be heard around the world,” said Williams, who is particularly fond of a song her daughter composed and recorded for her one Mother’s Day. “I’ve always told Morgan that there is healing in her voice and singing. It always puts you in a place of joy, peace and comfort.”

Williams, a teacher at Springfield High School, recalled the first time she realized that singing was in her daughter’s future.

“Morgan was 3 or 4 years old and we were at a movie at the old Esquire Theatre. There was a time during the movie when the screen went black for a few seconds, and Morgan started singing ‘Jingle Bell Rock’ right then,” Jacqueline Williams said. “It was totally quiet except for her singing, and everybody in the theater just started laughing.”


Minsk’s father Derrick Williams, an assistant principal at Springfield High School, remembers the Illinois State Fair Talent Show competition when his daughter was 11 years old.

“There was a lady on stage in a dress and I was looking around trying to find my wife and Morgan sitting in the crowd, and I heard that lady singing from the stage and I glanced up and realized it was Morgan,” he said. “She had a mature voice that sounded like a grown woman and I was just stunned because I couldn’t believe that voice was coming from my daughter.

“Every time I hear her sing it wells up emotions inside me. When she sings the Mothers Day song she wrote for my wife, it still brings tears to my eyes every time I hear it.”

Meanwhile, as she prepares for the debut of “Praise,” Minsk appreciates what her hometown has meant to her life and career.

“For the first 18 years of my life all that I wanted to do was get out of Springfield,” Minsk said. “It was all that I knew, and I don’t think I was able to appreciate the beauty and simplicity of living there.”

“There are 5 million other people who can sing as well as I can and who can play better than I can, and my pride really took a hit when I moved from Springfield to Boston,” Minsk said. “I had to really ask myself where my self-worth lies. Does it lie in people knowing my name, or does it lie in being a child of God? I am just a vessel for God to be able to help others.”

Contact David Blanchette through the metro desk, 788-1401. - Illinois State Journal-Register

Springfield is knocking it out of the park lately with its musical productions and The Wiz is no exception.

Many people will know The Wiz as a funk-infused, high energy movie from 1978 with an all-star cast including Michael Jackson, Diana Ross and Richard Pryor. A revival made for live TV in 2015 also drew more recent attention to the production.

The show is appropriate for all-ages, though as is discussed in this interview, has deeper meaning than just being pure entertainment. Morgan Minsk plays Dorothy and says, "I didn't really have a lot of black role-models of young women growing up, so when my mom introduced me to The Wiz - this urbanized all-black revival of The Wizard of Oz ... it was cool to see someone who had goals, someone who had vision - and someone who was trying to change her outlook on life." This local production is notable for its own all-star cast, modern dance numbers and projected backdrops featuring artistic photos of dilapidated NYC cityscapes. Tune in to hear more about it from Minsk and director, Craig Williams II.

Listen Listening...9:45 listen to the interview
This coming weekend, September 1st - 3rd, is the last to see The Wiz in Springfield at the HCFTA. Ticket info, here. - NPR Illinois

A Springfield High School alumna is returning to Springfield to reprise her role as a restless Kansas farm girl looking to see more of the world in the Hoogland Center for the Arts’ production of “The Wiz.”

Morgan (Williams) Minsk, who lives in Lowell, Massachusetts, about 35 minutes outside Boston, will play the role of Dorothy in the Broadway musical to be presented Friday through Sunday and Sept. 1-3 at the center, 420 S. Sixth St.

“The Wiz” is the urbanized retelling of the L. Frank Baum story “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz” in the context of modern African-American culture. With music and lyrics by Charlie Smalls and book by William F. Brown, the musical’s 1975 Broadway production won seven Tony Awards, including Best Musical. The original show led to a feature film starring Diana Ross and Michael Jackson and a live television event in 2015.

Minsk first played Dorothy in Springfield High School’s 2011 production of “The Wiz.” The Hoogland Center for the Arts’ production marks her first return to the role.

“I last played Dorothy as a senior in high school, and I would say my performance was pretty immature in general,” said Minsk, who is a mezzo-soprano with a voice range from tenor to a high first soprano. “Over the last six years, I studied music at Berklee College of Music and have had the opportunity to mature tenfold in my vocal performance abilities. I think this time around is going to be much better than last time.

“I was also attempting to play an innocent 14-year-old from Kansas the last time I portrayed her, whereas the present Dorothy is a modern, urban 24-year-old like myself.”

Going home

Dorothy in “The Wiz” is transported in a tornado from her Kansas farm to a magical land called “Oz.” Believing that the Wizard of Oz can help her get back home to Kansas, she travels to Emerald City, along the way meeting friends like the Scarecrow (Reggie Guyton), Tinman (Anthony ‘Alex’ Glover) and Cowardly Lion (Tony Young) who eventually help her learn there is no place like home.

Minsk was able to return home to play Dorothy after receiving a call about eight months ago from Kevin Ford, the show’s assistant director.


“He mentioned that the Hoogland would be putting the show on this summer and that the casting team wanted me to return for the role. I was floored and thrilled by the request,” Minsk said.

Because Minsk lives in Massachusetts, she has been practicing on her own for the past few months, along with help from some recorded videos for blocking and choreography.

“The hardest thing for me was probably learning all of my dance moves from halfway across the U.S.,” Minsk said. “Our amazing choreographer, Anna Bussing (Maisenbacher), was thoughtful enough to make recordings of all the dance numbers, which I worked on furiously in my tiny living room.

“There were times I was tempted to give up simply because I was so tired from singing and dancing such high-energy numbers at the same time, but little by little, God has been giving me the strength to succeed. Not to mention the help I’ve gotten from all the cast members since I’ve gotten here.”

Headline cast

Craig Williams II, “The Wiz” director, said the show features several actors who are considered headliners in community theater.

“The cast is awesome. ... many consummate performers. They’ve taken their characters on full bore,” said Williams, who also directed the 2011 production of “The Wiz” at Springfield High School.


“One of the things that I love about this production is we have a lot of what I think are headliner actors in the community that a lot of times would be in a lead role in a show. We’ve got lots of them -- the three gentlemen, the Scarecrow (Reggie Guyton), Tinman (Anthony ‘Alex’ Glover) and Lion (Tony Young) are all just fantastic. ... Same goes for the witches, Addaperle (Tiffany C. Williams) and (Evillene played by Tiffany Monique Elizabeth Mathis).

“For me, they’re headliners. When I see their names, I want to go see them. To have them all in one place is just really special.”

Williams said Minsk as Dorothy is a good fit because she has natural talent in vocal capacity and in performance presence.

“She brings the air that’s kind of reminiscent of Diana Ross, of what people loved in the movie. She takes the stage, and you watch her, and she’s warm, and she’s naïve in her character, and her voice is just fantastic.”

Williams said because “The Wiz” hasn’t been performed in local community theater since the 1980s the cast wants to perform the show to meet people’s expectations.

“To bring the spark that people loved about the movie from the ’70s with Diana Ross and Michael Jackson and trying to find that spark with that essence, I think that’s probably the only challenge that I really can see as far as putting on ‘The Wiz,’” Williams said.

Minsk said she gives “complete glory to God for every correct note, dance step and script line.”


“He gives me the power to bring emotion to the role. He gives me the longevity to sing and dance such a high-energy musical at the same time,” Minsk said. “I love the fact that I get to portray a role that isn’t that far from who I am anyway — a young, black woman in pursuit of meaning.”

Minsk and her husband, Jeremy, are full-time campus ministers at UMass Lowell. She also works part-time as a neurological music therapist in the greater Boston area and is a working performer in the area — “gigging weddings, songwriting and currently starting up a collaboration with the Luna Collective, a jazz combo in the area.”

“I am also in the process of releasing a full-length solo album titled ‘Praise,’” Minsk said. “Through the crowdfunding platform Kickstarter, $24,000 was raised in 27 days by friends, family and fans in order to make the album a reality. It is currently in the mixing phase, and will be recorded/mixed by three-time Grammy nominee Warren Babson (Justin Beiber, John Legend, Ledisi, etc).”

— Contact Tamara Browning: tamara.browning@sj-r.com, 788-1534, twitter.com/tambrowningSJR.

***

‘The Wiz’

When: Friday, Saturday and Sunday; Sept. 1-3. Show times are 8 p.m. on Friday and Saturday nights, and 2 p.m. on Sundays.

Where: Hoogland Center for the Arts, 420 S. Sixth St.

Tickets: Call 523-2787 or go to hcfta.org. - Illinois State Journal-Register