Irvington's Hillary Gillings Cuts Her First Gospel Album
Hillary Gillings, of Irvington, an administrative assistant at NJIT who happens to also be a long-time gospel singer/songwriter has recorded an album with the Tate Music Group entitled "This Is The Lord's Doing." The album will be released in January of 2012. It is her first.
She will perform selections from the upcoming album at St. Benedict’s Preparatory School, Newark on Dec. 3, 2011.Gillings has been singing her entire life, starting in Sunday school in Jamaica, West Indies, when she was seven. She moved to the U.S. when she was 18.
She was a solo finalist at the McDonald’s Gospel Fest (1999), and participated in an off-Broadway play, “The Gospel at Colonus,” as a choir member. The play was performed at Symphony Hall Theatre, Newark. In 2003, she opened for an Alvin Slaughter concert in Brooklyn. Slaughter, the former lead male vocalist of the multiple GRAMMY Award-winning Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir, is known for his cross-cultural songs and a smooth blending of gospel and contemporary Christian music.
She did the same that year for a Papa San concert at Queens College, New York. Papa San is a reggae and gospel artist, who began his career in dance halls. Hip-hop and gospel elements often find their way into his work.
On several occasions Gillings has been asked to sing the national anthem at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center during NJIT events. She worships as a member of the Deliverance Jesus Is Coming Church, Irvington, under the leadership of Bishop James H. Everett, Jr., and Pastor Vanessa Everett.