Rev. Timothy Wright

Gospel director Reverend Timothy Wright has been involved with choirs on a regular basis for most of his life. Wright began playing piano at the age of 12, as he utilized his budding musical talents at the St. John's Fire Baptized Holiness Church of God in Brooklyn, NY, eventually composing for the church's choir. By 1969, Wright was playing piano for the late Bishop F.D. Washington, and it was from his tenure in Washington's choir that Wright gained the attention of Rev. Isaac Douglas and the N.Y. Community Choir, for which Wright soon began playing organ for, as well as penning almost all the songs on Douglas' 1971 album Lets Go Higher. In the mid-'70s, Wright formed his own outfit, the Timothy Wright Concert Choir, resulting in such releases as Who's on the Lord's Side and Do You Know the Light, and began playing with various other choirs across the United States. Wright also found the time to team up with Myrna Summers for her We're Gonna Make It release, as well as forming the project Come Thou Almighty King, which is comprised of a 500-voice choir. Wright is the pastor and founder of the Grace Tabernacle Christian Center in Brooklyn, and since 1990 has been issuing albums on a regular basis, including such titles as I'm Glad About It, Moving in the Spirit, and Story to Tell; 1994's Come Thou Almighty King was nominated for the Best Traditional Soul Gospel Grammy and hit Billboard's Top 20 gospel chart. He remained busy into the 2000s, until July 2008, when Wright was seriously injured in a car accident that killed his wife and grandson; he died the following April at age 61.