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History

The City Sings Gospel project (CSG) which has led to the creation of the annual City Sings Gospel International Festival of Gospel Music, set out to promote and develop gospel music and arts in Merseyside and the North West through the creation and support of gospel choirs and gospel groups.

 
Singing Starts with a Successful Bid
 

From the outset of the Liverpool bid to become the European Capital of Culture in 2008, an initial idea for an International Festival of Gospel Music was on the table.  Liverpool Lighthouse with its Love and Joy Gospel Choir had been inspired to improve gospel music capacity and culture in Liverpool by holding a large international event during the spotlight cultural year. Love & Joy Gospel Choir was an integral part of the bidding team, promoting Liverpool across the region, in parliament, and in Brussels. 

 

When Liverpool won the bid, Liverpool Lighthouse stepped up and took the lead in developing the festival and conducting the development work.   The newly named project, City Sings Gospel, aimed to provide unique and exciting opportunities for young and old people alike in the lead up to citywide celebration events in 2008. 

 

City Sings Gospel Development 2004-2006
 

In 2004, Liverpool Lighthouse hosted the 2nd National Gospel Grand Summit in Liverpool. It heralded Liverpool's arrival on the national gospel music radar. Three hundred delegates visited the city from across the U.K. Since then, much work has been done by Liverpool Lighthouse and partners to develop the capacity for the music in the region.

 

In 2005, City Sings Gospel focused on setting up choirs across the greater Merseyside involving several schools, churches, businesses and community groups. In 2006, a small scale local festival was organised in a number of venues in Liverpool featuring local choirs and groups. The motivation and focus for participants apart from the obvious enjoyment has been the skill and opportunity it offers them to contribute artistically to the celebrations in 2008 and beyond.

 

Getting City Sings Gospel fit for purpose, was a key task and so we had to set about securing the support of a number of high quality (and high profile) practitioners. Notices went out across the city/region/country inviting 'Key-players' to come and join a steering group that was set up to create and maintain links between our project and those others going on in the city. We then set about scheduling master class sessions led by some highly respected artists/practitioners in the gospel, urban gospel and choral music genres.  Our project gathered more momentum and interest with different groups and master class-leaders offering their services. 

 

City Sings Gospel is launched

 

On 15th October 2005 City Sings Gospel was launched in Liverpool Lighthouse with 'Rags 2 Riches', an event put on in conjunction with the student-led group 'Zest'. The award-winning ‘Sanctified Gospel Choir’ performed among others and the night was jam-packed with dance, rap, a fashion show and ‘Food Feast’. The event attracted a large crowd from across the city and was used as an opportunity to raise community awareness of choirs being set up in their area and let people know that Merseyside was in for a real treat in 2008! 
 

Training the Trainers

 

The next stage in the process was to get our trainers trained so that they could train others. In November, Liverpool Lighthouse was taken over by workshops and master classes offering music leaders the opportunity to learn from established artists and practitioners, to share workshop techniques, ideas, group leading skills, conducting techniques and to learn new material.

 

Participants were stretched creatively, learning unfamiliar styles and techniques but they maximised on the expertise of the day by exchanging and exploring new and alternative ideas. Our music leaders also began to get to grips with the way the City Sings Gospel project would run. The training culminated in the final closed performance.    

 

Community and Associated Performances – the voices grow.

 

Choirs and groups formed and practiced and once the City Sings Gospel project gained a good reputation the new choirs were asked to perform within their respective communities. Some were also invited to perform outside their locality at different events around the city. These performances raised the overall profile of the project. The City Sings Gospel project proudly sent its associated choirs to prestigious events including North Liverpool Sunday fun day, Lord Mayor's Parade and the Business in the Community "Awards for Excellence" event in the Crowne Plaza.

 

City Sings Gospel continued to forge partnerships to stage collaborative performances including Liverpool’s "Hope Street Festival" which featured the Knotty Ash School choir performing with the Philharmonic Gospel Choir.

 

In addition to developing new choirs, CSG began to focus on the secondary remit of the project to help support existing choirs, groups and artists. This collaboration and training has helped expand the choirs and build capacity for the 2008 events. The Love and Joy Choir, for example, has performed at the Greenbelt festival to an audience of 40,000.   

 

The City Sings

 

On the 14th July 2006 the City Sings Gospel choirs came together for the first time for a large-scale celebratory event. For many it was their first ever performance. Over 350 participants sang and rapped. The atmosphere was euphoric and some groups distinguished themselves with different outfits. Everyone had a great time but more importantly it showcased the success of the project.  From its first year, City Sings Gospel project has enabled almost 300 young people to take part in singing, contributed to the professional development of 10 music leaders as well as developing a previously under-represented music genre across Merseyside. Over the four year period important partnerships were established with various organisations on a local, national and international level working towards not only developing the capacity for Gospel Music in the region, but delivering a successful International Festival of Gospel Music in 2008.

 
City Sings Gospel 2007: “The Amazing Grace Festival” 

The 2007 Amazing Grace Festival of Gospel Music was a part of the three-year City Sings Gospel Festivals plan. This festival took place from the spring to summer to coincide with the 200th anniversary of the parliamentary abolition of slavery, and the 800th anniversary of Liverpool city.  The title of the festival is in remembrance of John Newton, the abolitionist who wrote the most beloved hymn, 'Amazing Grace'. (The bicentenary of his death is also in 2007) 

In February, Liverpool Lighthouse hosted the advance screening of the film ‘Amazing Grace’, an inspirational story of a reluctant leader’s fight against the slave trade. This event brought together church and secular leaders from across the city and proved to be an extremely moving and powerful evening. The event commenced with a VIP reception followed by the screening in the King's Hall. Jo Wylie, from Liverpool Cathedral, summed up the film describing it as a “challenging and descriptive account of the life of William Wilberforce, revealing the opposition and struggles he faced before the 1807 Abolition of the Slave Trade. This is not just a date for the history books, but the triumph of vision and determination under the banner of "Amazing Grace".

In March, on the anniversary day of the passing of the Abolition Bill, BBC Radio 4 broadcasted live from the Maritime Museum featuring Senior Pastor of Temple of Praise Tani Omideyi , the Right Reverend DJ James Jones, Bishop of Liverpool and Love and Joy Gospel Choir. Liverpool Lighthouse also held a Set Free Hot Gospel Showcase. The Harmonize Spring Performance used the theme of the contributions of William Wilberforce and Olaudah Equiano to the abolition of slavery in Britain.

 

In April the ‘City Sings Gospel (CSG) Sunday Night Live’ was held at Liverpool Lighthouse featuring US gospel artists Izzy and Keshia McFarland, Christopher Lewis, Manchester gospel artist Flame, Sanctified Gospel Choir and jazz gospel saxophonist Alex Douglas. The event attracted audiences from across the Northwest and had guests singing and dancing in the aisles.

May 2007 saw the CSG showcase ‘Sunday Night Live’ arrive at the Liverpool Lighthouse for participants of the CSG project. Paul Field’s anti- slavery musical ‘Cargo’ also came to Liverpool Lighthouse.  CSG choirs from across Merseyside participated in the musical along with Harmonize members.

The CSG Schools Showcase concert took place in June at Liverpool Lighthouse.

CSG 2007: Waterfront Festival 

In June CSG held the ‘Waterfront Festival’ in conjunction with the Maritime Festival of Tall Ships. The show at the Pier Head was hosted by DJ El Nino and later BBC’s DJ Fitz and featured City Sings Gospel participants, Love and Joy Gospel Choir and up and coming UK gospel artistes. The line up saw Cie, Dwayne Tryumf, Harp, Purified Gold, Sammie Okposo, Roger and Sam, Watchman, Riversongz and Open Hearts Choir take to the stage.

The second day of the Waterfront Festival was marked with the Transatlantic Memorial Service on the HMS Albion.  This commemoration service held in remembrance of the slaves that died at sea involved church and civic leaders from Liverpool, West Africa, the Caribbean and the USA. The programme included choral and gospel music, congregational hymn singing, musical renditions and a minute of silence.

The African Children’s Choir performed at ‘Sunday Night Live’ at the Liverpool Lighthouse.  

 

CSG 2007: Closing Events of ‘The Amazing Grace Festival’    
      

John Aitken's biography on John Newton is launched at Liverpool Lighthouse in June.

In July, renowned Norwegian choir, Stavanger Gospel Choir play a John Newton performance for ‘John Newton Musical Event' at the Liverpool Lighthouse. Liverpool Lighthouse also welcomed the Liverpool Philharmonic Gospel Choir, Love and Joy Gospel Choir and school choirs across the region to perform.            

 
Liverpool, European Capital of Culture 2008                             
 
In 2008 Liverpool became the European Capital of Culture, which paved the way for a massive 12-month celebration of the best in the arts, sport, music, heritage and culture. 2008 marked the climax of the City Sings Gospel to date and the fabulous re-birth of Liverpool as a vibrant city in the North West of England. From the beginning of the year Liverpool Lighthouse continued to develop new choirs throughout Merseyside. In June, the international festival of Gospel music (City Sings Gospel 08) and a massive gospel arts street party on Hope Street (Festival of Hope 08) which everyone had been working towards took place. 
 
CSG 2008: City Sings Gospel, an international festival of Gospel music
 

The 15 day festival kicked off on June 1st with Gospel chart topping Muyiwa and Riversongz in Anfield. Anfield was definitely the centre of the music world. Muyiwa joked “I had originally booked the stadium for my album tour but that when I heard Macca needed it I moved the show here to the nearby Liverpool Lighthouse”. 

 

After only two minutes into the performance Muyiwa and Riversongz had everyone dancing and singing along to the African style beats. Soon a crowd formed a Conga line at the front of the stage and Muyiwa jumped triumphantly from the stage and into the crowd. This energy and vigour characterised the entire City Sings Gospel events.

 

A special showcase concert marked the end of an International Gospel Arts Partnership Summit where artistes and professionals from Poland to the USA gathered to hear about the upward surge of gospel music in different parts of the world, forge new links, showcase new talent, and learn about current developments in the industry. . City Sings Gospel welcomed President of Integrity Music US, Michael Coleman and Chief Executive of Mersey Partnership Martin King.

 

The festival moved to the city centre on the 13th of June for the ‘Feast of Choirs’ concert at the Anglican Cathedral. X-factor contestant Beverly Trotman joined over 600 singers from choirs all over Merseyside for a goose-pimple performance. City Sings Gospel has been developing and supporting these choirs for the last three years in the lead up this year’s European celebrations. Hundreds of jazz hands and joyous voices moved the packed out cathedral.

 

The climax of City Sings Gospel was the massive free street party on Hope Street on the 14th of June. Spokesperson Muireann Kyeyune said “We want to lift the city and the community up with our inspiring message of Hope through gospel music. The music will cover so many exciting genres from World music to Rap and I hope we’ll have people of all ages dancing in the street. You can’t feel depressed when you listen to this music so imagine a full city alive with it”

 

City Sings Gospel brought the day to a close with an intimate concert at the Metropolitan Cathedral hosted by BBC’s Wayne Clarke featuring Toscha Comeux, Love and Joy Gospel Choir, Voices in Praise, Metropolitan Cathedral Choristers, Stavanger Gospel Choir and Magdalena Piskorczyk among others. The mood was one of thanks and peaceful praise.

 

City Sings Gospel artists, performers, volunteers and staff carried their enthusiasm and spirit from the Festival of Hope into Father’s Day where they walked with over 20,000 people under the Mersey River through the Queens Way tunnel. The fun day out featured the Philharmonic Youth Orchestra, Love and Joy Gospel Choir and a fun car rally and display.

                          
CSG 2008: Festival of Hope- A dynamic street party 
 

Liverpool’s cultural quarter, Hope Street, came alive for a massive free gospel music and arts festival on the 14th of June 2008. Undoubtedly the most ambitious event of the City Sings Gospel festival, the Festival of Hope was organised by Merseyfest and Liverpool Lighthouse with support from Hope University.

 

The sounds of laughter and song filled the streets as hundreds of Gospel music entertainers and artists performed during the Festival of Hope. The jam packed day kicked off with a colourful parade weaving from the Anglican Cathedral and surrounding streets to Hope Street. Church congregations throughout Merseyside joined together to create this carnival procession of flags, banners and costumes.

 

Helping Hope Street to live up to its name, organisers wished the festival to send out a strong message of hope and faith. To reinforce this, dignitaries and celebrities of the city joined Bishop James Jones and the two deans of the Cathedrals in their symbolic walk from either end of Hope Street. The Mayor of Liverpool, Cllr. Steven Rotherham, released doves to mark the occasion.

 

All along the street there were street entertainers, dancers, market stalls, food stands and live performances from mini stages. Throughout the day the big names in Gospel music from around the world blasted out hits from hip-hop to blues and jazz. International artists from countries including, Norway, Poland, America, Jamaica and the Democratic Republic of the Congo played with UK musicians and singers such as The Band with No Name, Love and Joy Gospel Choir, S.O., Chan and Voices in Praise. Festival favourites, Pacific Spirit, a dance troupe made up of members from the South Pacific islands of Tonga, Samoa and New Zealand stomped out their traditional warrior dance for audiences outside the Metropolitan Cathedral.

 

The street party ended with two concerts, SPACE, at the Anglican Cathedral and an intimate concert at Metropolitan Cathedral hosted by BBC’s Wayne Clarke. This special concert attracted over 700 people and featured American jazz artist Toscha Comeux, the Metropolitan Cathedral Choristers, Norway’s Stavanger Gospel Choir and Polish blues singer Magdalena Piskorczyk among others.