Russell Joel Brown’s Most Significant Performance Aims to Benefit Paine College

AUGUSTA, Ga. () – Russell Joel Brown is getting ready for his next show: “Russell Joel Brown, Home for the Holidays at Paine College.” It’s a fundraising event for the school that will feature a nine-piece band, an 85-voice choir, dancers, and more.

To find out more about the event, we had Russell come in to the studio.

What is this event all about?

“I’m doing a major fundraiser for Paine College. I’m so excited about it because I basically grew up on that campus. My father was the college physician for several decades and I saw some of the greats of my youth on that campus. John Hope Franklin came to speak, of course my parents took me out of school to go see this giant of a man. I heard Nikki Giovanni, and Gwendolyn Brooks read their poetry in the student center, and I remember Paine College because it was figured so prominently in my youth but now there’s a new President and he’s just come on board in January of this year. Dr. Lester McCorn and I were at Morehouse together and for him to be here in Augusta, and for him to be associated from something in my youth and something that means so much to me, and the rest of the community, it is amazing. So, I really wanted to help him, and help the college be ushered in to a new era. I wanted to be a significant part of that, so what I know how to do best is to sing and produce shows. So I said ‘hey, I can do a fundraiser for the school, and I can have a little bit of help from them with the chapel, and with the box office, and I’ll take care of everything else.”

What can people expect from this show?

“This may be the biggest show I’ve ever done. I have an 85 voice choir that will open the show. 85 voices from all over the community. They will open the show with John Rutter’s ‘Candlelight Carol,’ and then without waiting for applause we’ll go in to Kirk Franklins ‘O Come, All Ye Faithful,’ again not waiting for applause we’ll go in to John P. Kee’s ‘Celebrate,’ but of course we have to sing all of everyone’s favorites. So there will be ‘This Christmas,’ ‘Hark the Herald Angels sing,’ ‘Joy to the World’. I have several new pieces that to my knowledge have not been sung here in Augusta. One of them is called ‘Precious Boy,’ and it was arranged from a friend of mine from the Lion King, and so we’ll have a heavenly choir that will sing the background vocals acapella. I have some people coming in from New York and some from Atlanta, it’s a big deal.”

What does it mean for you to be able to do this?

“It means so much because I spent 27 years in New York, and I was scratching and surviving trying to make it to Broadway, and I made it to Broadway, but in retrospect what I realized is that as proud as I am of the things that I did in New York, as proud as I am to have made it to Broadway, I was merely a cog in the greater wheel, and fulfilling other peoples dreams and having been apart of other peoples impact, not my impact and so now to come back home to the place that I love, to the place that gave me so much, and to be able to bring my talent, my gifts to this community to make a difference and have impact of my own, on my community that I care about, there’s nothing better than that.”

If you’re trying to donate, you can head to Russell Joel Brown’s website, or Paine College’s website.

“Russell Joel Brown, Home for the Holidays at Paine College,” is happening on Friday, December 5th, and Saturday December 6th, tickets are on sale now.