Last week, Thalita Correia ‘23 sang with world-famous gospel artist Kirk Franklin as part of the Maverick City Music choir at TD Garden in Boston and Barclays Center in Brooklyn. Over the past several months, the two musical acts have been selling out other arenas with over 10,000 fans in attendance each night. The performances were stops on the national Kingdom Tour to promote a new, collaborative album Kingdom Book One, which serves to raise awareness on the injustices of mass incarceration.
This was the first time Correia, a psychology major and music minor at Regis, had ever performed at TD Garden and the fourth time she sang with Franklin and Maverick City Music.
“Music has always been in my blood, so to be able to do this with a gospel group has been very beautiful,” said Correia. “It's so exciting because the performance at TD Garden was my hometown show and to be on the main stage there was special and important to me.”
Maverick City Music is a contemporary gospel choir whose music helped Correia endure the COVID-19 pandemic. When she heard that they were holding auditions in New York in April 2022, she decided to drive to the city with friends and try out for the choir.
“I honestly was just going for the fun and to meet new people, but God had other plans,” said Correia. “Now I'm officially part of the choir and got to join their ‘Kingdom’ tour in collaboration with Kirk Franklin, which is geared toward the work they have been doing with men who are incarcerated.”
“Thalita has been an important contributor to music at Regis, through her work with the Glee Singers and her supportive presence in the classroom, where she contributes to the education of all her peers,” said Professor Heather Josselyn-Cranson, OSL. "Thalita shares her voice and her musical gifts with a completely humble character, only seeking to build others up and never to gain the spotlight for herself. She is a person of deep faith and excellent musicianship, and I was so very glad that she could combine these two passions together in this way.”
In addition to being a Resident Assistant at Regis and a student leader in the Partners in Excellence (PIE) mentoring program, Correia is also the music director at her church in West Bridgewater. As part of Correia’s music studies at Regis, she has sung with the Glee Singers and conducted an experiment about how music affects the length of time people spend on a task. She is currently composing music as part of her Understanding and Creating Music class.
Prior to Regis, she attended Boston Arts Academy where she studied music for her entire four years of high school. She has been singing since she was five years old.
After Correia graduates from Regis, she plans to pursue a master’s degree in social work or mental health counseling. She also plans to continue singing with Maverick City Music and joining them on tours, as well as working at her church.
