ON AIR: Atten Hut! Join Music Minister, Major Ouida Harding, and me at 1200 hours, Eastern Time on the 'Lisa Tolliver Show'

"Is there a doctor in the house?" is usually the call when one needs healing. And retired Army Major Ouida Waltryce Harding (affectionately known as "Major") made sure someone answered that call - sometimes answering it herself - throughout a 26-year career in the United States Army and Army Reserve.

"Is there music in your life?" is another call Major has long answered. As a musician (piano, organ), Chaplain Musician in the Army, church minister, clinician, musical director, support guest musician, prodigy, pioneer, and instructor, she has ministered to the spirits, souls and senses of diverse civilian and military audiences, off-air and worldwide. These are just three of the doctoral candidate's current roles:

• Minister of Music at Walker Memorial Baptist Church in the Bronx,
  
• Dean of Seminars and Training for the National Baptist Convention, and
  
• Founder of The Worship Arts Theological Training and Resource Center, Inc., which, her bio says "will serve as a conduit with a training mission to assist persons who serve in Music and Worship Leadership, but have not had the benefit of dedicated training to support their assigned task; serve as pastoral consultant; and "grow" bona fide church musicians, especially back home in the Harlem community where for her it all began."

There's so much more. But I'll wait for the show to sing like a canary. Come and witness this glorious guest!

Today, Major will minister to the Lisa Tolliver Show audience on air and online. Join us at 1200 hours, Eastern Time. Tune to New York Radio WVOX 1460 AM, listen live at WVOX.com, or hear and share via phone at (01) 914 636 0110.

SUPPORT THE SHOW! Contributions and sponsorships to my creative and cultural works are tax-deductible. And with matching funds, you can double, even triple your money! Learn more, contribute here.### ###




BELOW: Dorothy Norwood and Cissy Houston are but two of the gospel artists Major has worked with. The ads below access some of their music.

ON AIR July 25, 2007: The Lisa Toliver Show features Minister of Music, Major Ouida W. Harding

Oyez! Hear ye! Lend me your ears! Tomorrow's Lisa Tolliver Show should get you shouting, clapping, and tapping your feet. You may even lift up your voice and sing.

My guest will be Minister of Music, Major Ouida Waltryce Harding (affectionately known as "Major"). If you've never heard OF her, you've likely HEARD her beautiful, award-winning music. That's likely, as she sometimes performs with well-known gospel artists, such as Dorothy Norwood and Cissy Houston.

For example, Major was Musical Director for Face to Face, for which Ms. Houston captured the 1996 Grammy Award for Best Traditional Soul Gospel Album. [Hear excerpts.] And the gospel singing group, 'The Reflections of Faith', which Major says she organized "with the intent to do more than sound good, but to also connect and encourage persons from all walks of life," won three consecutive NYC Gospel Grammy Awards for the Best Non-Recording Female Group. Amen!

The show will air at high noon (ET) on Wednesday, July 25. To hear and share, tune to New York Radio WVOX 1460 AM, listen live online at WVOX.com, or phone the call-in line: (01) 914.636.0110.

I've been trying for a year to interview the globetrotting musician (piano, organ), minister and retired military officer, and we're all blessed she's booked this broadcast. Hallelujah!

Major Harding and her gifts are in great demand, worldwide, to uplift audiences as personal as wedding ceremonies and as public as the National Baptist Convention (for which she is the Dean of Seminars and Training. Major also participates in and heads workshops (like this one) and international missions (like this one in Ecuador, and an upcoming one she recruited me for).

Experiencing Major in action at her house of worship, Walker Memorial Baptist Church (WMBC), and sharing her stage during the World AIDS Day 2006 event: "A Time For Healing", has revealed some secrets to her success and popularity. For example, her extraordinary musical talents, leadership, and Army officer experience are clearly manifested when Major leads her musical troops in Sunday services and special events.

Some facts about this superb musician (organ, pianist) and minister are detailed in her bio at Yahoo! Groups: WMBC Mass Choir. [I've copied it below, and inserted links and bracketed text.]

[Minister of Music and Sacred Arts, Ms. Ouida W. Harding] is a graduate of the Interdenominational Theological Center, Atlanta Georgia [Morehouse School of Religion, 2003], with a Master of Arts in Church Music degree. She is a native New Yorker (Harlem) and [has] been appointed to the position of Dean of Seminars [and Training for the Music Auxiliary] for the National Baptist Convention USA, Inc.

A member of the St. Luke Baptist Church (Harlem) for over thirty five years, under the leadership of her father Reverend Walter L. Harding who served as pastor for over 53 years, Ouida comes to us with a thorough understanding of her ministry not as a job or a hobby, but as a Calling.

Ouida's credits her Mother as her first music teacher at the age of 4, and is using opportunities given to her to effectively contribute towards the resurrection of trained musicians especially for our local Baptist community.

And that's not the half of it. Tune in and witness the rest for yourself.

SUPPORT THE SHOW! Contributions and sponsorships to my creative and cultural works are tax-deductible. And with matching funds, you can double, even triple your money! Learn more, contribute here.###