Gospel ensemble to bring unique, pure blend of voices to Bayou Theater

October 1, 2018 | UHCL Staff

Gospel ensemble to bring unique, pure blend of voices to Bayou Theater

Sabine McCormick has lived in a house with music all her life. As an active member of music groups in school and church choir in Augusta, Georgia, she met a young singer named Trey McLaughlin. The two belonged to a gospel group McLaughlin created. It dispersed in 2009, and soon after, he invited her to join a new group he was starting called Trey McLaughlin and The Sounds of Zamar. The group, which now features 20 powerful gospel voices, will bring their uniquely blended sound to University of Houston-Clear Lake’s Bayou Theater on Thursday, Oct. 11 at 7:30 p.m.

“Zamar is Hebrew for ‘make music to God,’” McCormick said. “We’re very different from other gospel groups on the radio because Trey’s creations for us are very different. He’s very particular about the sound he wants. You don’t find choirs who are so pure and unified.”

McCormick said that the sound McLaughlin seeks to create ensures that no one voice stands out over any other. “Usually in a gospel choir, there’s a standout, but we have eight or nine tenors that sound just like one single tenor. You can’t hear one person over another—we sound like one voice.”

She added that although McLaughlin often sings solos, as do others in the group, “the soloist doesn’t sing over everyone. And Trey’s spirit is very humble,” she said. “I think that the audience will be surprised at the variety they’ll hear at our concert. We also do Broadway tunes and other genres—there are not many gospel groups that do that.”

That’s because McLaughlin, she explained, “hears something else in a song that no one else hears. He’ll listen to a pop or an R&B song and say, ‘I was listening to this, and here’s what I got out of it.’ And it’s something no one else hears. That’s what makes our group so different.”

While she understands that not everyone was a fan of gospel music, everyone can enjoy The Sounds of Zamar. “Our fan base is different,” she said. “We have touched people from all over the world, from all cultures. We love receiving messages from people internationally. And above all, we hope people will leave speechless and amazed,” she said. “We want to share our spirit and sense of fun. That’s who we are.”

 For more information about Trey McLaughlin and The Sounds of Zamar, and to reserve tickets at the Bayou Theater, visit www.uhcl.edu/bayou-theater/.

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