(New York, NY – January 18, 2023) – New York City’s Town Hall will present “A Celebration of Twinkie Clark,” on Friday, January 21, 2023. The virtuoso and four-time Grammy Award-winning Gospel legend will be recognized for her five-plus-decade career as one of the most prolific gospel composers in music history. The one-night-only event will also feature Twinkie Clark, who will take to the Hammond to perform some of her original compositions. This historic evening will be held at The Town Hall, located at 123 West 43rd Street, New York, NY at 8:00 p.m. ET, doors open at 7:00 p.m.
(New York, NY – January 18, 2023) – New York City’s Town Hall will present “A Celebration of Twinkie Clark,” on Friday, January 21, 2023. The virtuoso and four-time Grammy Award-winning Gospel legend will be recognized for her five-plus-decade career as one of the most prolific gospel composers in music history. The one-night-only event will also feature Twinkie Clark, who will take to the Hammond to perform some of her original compositions. This historic evening will be held at The Town Hall, located at 123 West 43rd Street, New York, NY at 8:00 p.m. ET, doors open at 7:00 p.m. Tickets can be purchased at The Town Hall box office or online.
Curated by composer and musical polymath Damien Sneed, Twinkie Clark, also known by many as the “Queen of the B3 Hammond Organ” and the “Mother of Gospel Music,” will be celebrated by her music legend sister and multiple Grammy Award-winning recording artist Karen Clark Sheard of the legendary Clark Sister, along with presenter Faith Evans, jazz musician Camille Thurman, Pastor Juandolyn Stokes, and feature vocalists Chenee Campbell, Tiffany Freeman, Markita Knight, and Alicia Peters-Jordan with the Orchestra of Tomorrow, founded by Sneed, who will also conduct.
Twinkie Clark, who is elated about the opportunity says, “I have never had a performance done with orchestra. I am excited and honored.”
“I have been enamored with Twinkie Clark’s music, genius, personality, humility and greatness since I first met her at Howard University during my senior year,” says Sneed, who conceptualized Friday’s night event. “We immediately became close friends and confidants. I've watched her triumph so many times and had the privilege of traveling with her after graduating from Howard. She gave me my first opportunity in the music industry to have my song, "Here With You" commercially released many years ago. I am always indebted to this brilliant virtuoso...the Maestra herself, my mentor Elbernita ‘Twinkie’ Clark.”
Additionally, the debut of Twinkie Clark’s solo instrumental project, Maestra, will be released on Friday, January 20th on Damien Sneed’s label, LeChateau Earl Records. Executive produced by Sneed, the EP features the “Opening Prayer,” “Miracle,” “Yes Lord,” “Nothing To Lose,” and “A Praying Spirit,” and will be available at all digital outlets including Spotify, Apple Music, iTunes Store, Tidal, Pandora, and more.
Born and raised in Detroit, Michigan, Dr. Elbertina “Twinkie” Clark has composed more than 350 songs. She has been awarded numerous awards including the Stellar Music Award and a recipient of its James Cleveland Lifetime Achievement Award, the GMA Dove, and the Soul Train Music Award, among many others. Clark was recently honored by the Church of God In Christ (COGIC) for her significant contributions to the music department and credited for helping to give the church-wide denomination its “COGIC Sound.”
Clark recorded several solo music projects including her debut studio album, Praise Belongs to God (1979), followed two years later by Ye Shall Receive Power (1981), Comin’ Home (1992), and The Masterpiece (1996). In 1996, she made her live debut in the collaborative album, Twinkie Clark-Terrell Presents the Florida A&M University Gospel Choir. In 2002, she released Twinkie Clark & Friends…Live in Charlotte and in 2014, she released Home Once Again: Live in Detroit, which was her highest-charting solo album to date. Clark also released With Humility (2011), Live & Unplugged (2013), and a collaborative album, The Generations (2020) with her nephew, Larry Clark.
Throughout her career, Clark has produced albums for several choirs. She has traveled abroad as an evangelist, music educator, and workshop facilitator. Her compositions have been recorded and sampled by some of Gospel’s greats as well as award-winning popular music recording artists.
A Howard University alumnus, Clark credits her musical gifts to God and her mother, the late Dr. Mattie Moss Clark as her greatest inspiration. In April 2020, Lifetime honored The Clark Sisters in a biopic titled The Clark Sisters: The First Ladies of Gospel to rave reviews. The movie details their humble beginnings and struggles to find their place, to later becoming the best-selling Gospel group in music. The movie featured re-recordings of some of The Clark Sisters’ biggest hits like “You Brought The Sunshine,” among others.