Music is the language of the spirit. For Africans during slavery, singing songs was a way to connect back to their native roots, send encoded messages, protest their masters’ treatment of them and ease the burden of working out in the fields.

These types of songs, called spirituals, have become a cultural phenomenon. Starkly different from gospel music, which originated in the early 20th century, spirituals are becoming a popular concert genre.

The Spirituals Project Choir-a facet of the Spirituals Project, an organization that focuses on the history, education and influence of spirituals music-will be performing at Regis University Feb. 23 for Black History Month. On March 5, 6 and 7, the choir will also be performing at the Quaker Meeting House in Denver for a weekend retreat, and some members will be at the Columbine Foothills Art Center in Golden on the night of the 6th for another concert performance.

Arthur Jones, senior clinical and core professor of the Department of Psychology, founded the Spirituals Project in 1996. Prior to 1996, Jones, along with several of his colleagues, began planning a PBS documentary film about spirituals. However, financial strains prevented them from completing this project and the film was never produced.

Yet, Jones still wanted to pursue this project and leaned toward the educational area to achieve this. He teamed up with Arlen Hershberger of the First Mennonite Church of Denver and created the Front Range Mennonite Choir. Yet, Jones felt the choir did not represent enough diversity and hired Benny Williams to be the new choir director.

Williams renamed it the Spirituals Project Choir and recruited multiracial and multigenerational members to join. Most of these members come from the local community, but students from the Lamont School of Music are also part of the choir.

Jones, who is also the chairperson for the board of directors, said the choir is the ambassador for the Spirituals Project, traveling regionally to sing in Greeley, Boulder and Colorado Springs. Jones said the choir has had a “phenomenal response everywhere they go.”

One big success for the Spirituals Project was on Nov. 1, 2003, when the choir ensemble put on their first annual gala fundraiser. Jones said the concert immediately sold out and they were able to raise about $27,000. Another gala fundraiser will be held again next year.

In coordination with the Spirituals Project, Jones is also teaching a core class called “The Black Spiritual,” which deals with the history of spirituals and its influence on gospel and modern-day music, as well as the civil rights movement.

The Spirituals Project was incorporated as a non profit agency in 1999.

Recently the Spirituals Project moved into Sturm Hall room 403 and hired Connie Rule, a full-time executive director.

“The university has been very supportive,” said Jones. “Dean Greg Kivestad, Jesus Trevino from the Center for Multicultural Excellence and the office of the Provost have really supported us.”

For more information about the Spirituals Project, go to their Web site at www.spiritualsproject.org.