Sunday, June 15th, 2025 at 2:00 P.M.
June 15th, 2025, the Voices of Juneteenth Celebrating Freedom Community Choir will be held at First Baptist Church, North 8th street in Quincy, starting at 2:00 p.m. This wonderful event will feature guest director Anita Watkins Stevens.
The Juneteenth Celebrating Freedom committee and the First Baptist Church of Quincy are proud to host the esteemed Professor Anita M. Watkins-Stevens, who will direct the “Voices of Juneteenth Choir” performance on June 15th, 2025, at 2 p.m. at the First Baptist Church in Quincy, Illinois. Professor Watkins-Stevens is also the Director of Worship and Arts Ministry at New Sunny Mount Missionary Baptist Church in St. Louis, Missouri, where Reverend Brandon A. Blake is Pastor and Reverend Donald Hunter is Pastor Emeritus.
A St. Louis native, she received early classical music training at the Alleda Ward Wells Music Studio. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Elementary Education and an Associate’s in Music Education from Harris Teachers College (1974), a Master’s in Music Education from the University of Missouri-St. Louis, and has pursued additional studies at Webster University.
After an 18-year career teaching middle school English in the Maplewood-Richmond Heights School District, Professor Watkins-Stevens transitioned to a full-time focus on music ministry in 1997. She is a sought-after workshop clinician, composer, director, musician, and orchestral arranger, conducting seminars and guest directing choirs throughout the United States. Her compositions have been performed and recorded by choirs at local and national conventions.
Professor Watkins-Stevens’ extensive experience includes:
- National Baptist Congress of Christian Education, Youth Rally Instructor (1994-Present)
- Roland Carter “Living Legend” Award in Church Music (2016, Hampton University)
- Instructor at Antioch District Leadership School and Western Baptist Bible College
- Member of the National Convention of Gospel Choirs and Choruses/Alumni Chorale Music Cabinet
- Frequent presenter at the Gospel Music Workshop of America Incorporated and Hampton University Ministers’ & Choir Directors’ Conference
- Music Director of The Gospel Symphonic Choir (Dello Thedford, Founder)
- Music Concert Staff, National Baptist Congress (multiple years)
- Guest Composer, In Unison Gospel Christmas Concert with the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra (multiple years)
- Director/CEO, AWS Music Studio (St. Louis, 1998-Present)
- Adjunct Professor, Harris-Stowe State University (History of African American Music)
Coming from a family steeped in ministry and music, Professor Watkins-Stevens’ late father, Reverend Albert D. Stevenson, was a minister, and her late mother, Jennie Stevenson, was a skilled church musician. Her two brothers are ordained ministers, and two sisters are also church musicians. This legacy continues with her children: Reverend Christopher Watkins, an ordained minister, recording artist, composer, and arranger (Minister of Music at Central Baptist Church, St. Louis); and Sylvia Watkins, an educator and television talk show host.
Among her choral compositions are: “And He Blessed My Soul,” “Prayer of A Shepherd,” “Hymn For The Season,” “Proclamation,” “GLORIA,” “A Higher Power,” “The Day I Died,” “Though He Slay Me,” “I Am the Lord,” “Still Good,” “Able God,” “Cry Unto the Lord,” “Fairest Lord Jesus” (Arr.), and “His Benefits.”
Do you want to help?
For those interested in singing or playing, please visit Join Our Choir.