A Birmingham youth choir continues to be celebrated following their memorable and rousing performance on national TV.
Now the
Birmingham Youth & Young Adult Fellowship Choir
is back at home where they will present a benefit and back-to-school concert on Sunday afternoon at 16th Street Baptist Church.
The 3:30 p.m. event gives people the opportunity to see and hear in person the group that mesmerized a national audience when they
won the Golden Buzzer
and an invitation to the next round on NBC’s “
America’s Got Talent
” earlier this month.
Several of the singers are students in Birmingham City Schools.
“I’ve never sung in front of thousands of people, so it was different but it was exciting because it was a new journey for us,” said Payton Marbury in a
video
from Birmingham City Schools.
Ahkeem Lee, the group’s founder and director, is a graduate of Ramsay High School.
Lee said he never expected his group to last a decade or reach an international stage and audience.
“It’s been 10 years of a lot of hard work, a lot of dedication, a lot of sacrifice and I’m really excited,” Lee told Birmingham City Schools producer Fred Davenport in the video. “The choir was founded originally as a one-time thing but God had other plans and a lot of young people in the city wanted to be a part of this, so we kept it going and 10 years later we are still here.”
A digital billboard along Red Mountain Expressway bears their image, they were heralded by the mayor and city council and the Birmingham school system social media video that highlights some of the Magic City’s youngest voices.
Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin posted on social media after the group appeared at city hall Tuesday.
“You represented the Magic City so well on the national stage,” he wrote. “There’s nothing like homegrown talent!”
The choir will return for the next round of NBC’s talent show in September.
Stories by
Joseph D. Bryant
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