Stockholm Gospel

Office  Staff

Lasse Axelsson

Director

lasse.axelsson@stockholmgospel.se

Mia Nygren 

Project Manager

mia.nygren@stockholmgospel.se

Contact  Details

info@stockholmgospel.se

Tel.  +46-736-428209

Stockholm Gospel is a Swedish non-profit association that arranges concerts, festivals, workshops and tours. The association was born in the summer of 1988, when the Stockholm Gospel Choir Festival was organized for the first time. With many years of experience, Stockholm Gospel has grown into promoting gospel music not only in Sweden, but also in Europe and, now, even all over the world.

The Beginning

Stockholm Gospel was founded by Swedish musicians Lasse Axelsson and Maria Nordenback under the name “Stockholm Gospelkör Festival.”

The first gospel choir festival, so called “Stockholm Gospelkör Festival,” took place on August 7-8, 1988, in Stockholm, and gathered around 500 choir singers and thousands of people in the audience. Within two days, thousands of people in Stockholm enjoyed an outdoor concert in the popular Sergels Square –broadcasted live by Radio Stockholm-, 11 simultaneous outdoor choir concerts on the city streets, as well as a final indoor concert in Erikdalhshallen -aired on Swedish SVT television station.

Participants included Clarence Eggleton, Per-Erik Hallin, Ray Walter, Beverly Glenn and Eric Bibb. Clay Evans and the Fellowship Choir from Chicago came as the guest choir. They gave an enthusiastic standing-room-only concert in Filadelfia Church.

Expressen national daily newspaper wrote, “Had priest Clay Evans been a profane singer, he would have been as big as Bruce Springsteen,” and gave the concert a five-star rating.

20-Year Anniversary

In August 2008 Stockholm Gospel celebrated its 20-year anniversary with numerous successful events held around Stockholm city: an outdoor concert on Sergels Square; a gospel church service; three evening concerts in Filadelfia Church; a full-evening concert on the famous Gustav Adolfs Square with around 7000 spectators; and various other concerts throughout the city.

A 1600-voice choir performed together with guests Cynthia Nunn and the Dayspring Choir (Chicago), Walt Withman & Southchildren (Chicago),Tripple & Touch (Sweden) with the Starschool Choir (South Africa), Clarence Eggleton, Jay T Hairston, Joshua Nelson, Per-Erik Hallin, Maria Nordenback, Louise Hoffsten, Eric Bibb, Credokören, Servants and Cyndee Peters, among many others.

Swedish Dagens Nyheter daily newspaper published several feature stories, one of them entitled “Gospel Got The City to Swing.”

Successful Gospel Initiatives

Presently, Stockholm Gospel has great focus on activities with youth and schools. The organization holds school visits through out Sweden, meeting young people via gospel music.

Stockholm Gospel has recently been involved in the organization of the “Keep The Dream Alive” Youth Festival, which took place again in August for the second consecutive year.

August 2010 also brought, on one hand, the Stockholm Gospel Choir Festival that traditionally takes place every other year. This year the Festival turned international!