Hans Christian: Building Bridges for Gospel Music in Europe

Hans Christian and the Gospel Fellowship

By Bob Marovich for The Black Gospel Blog

Once upon a time, a choir director was told by church folk that gospel music didn’t belong in church. 

No, we’re not talking about Thomas A. Dorsey in the 1930s.

We’re talking about Hans Christian Jochimsen, director of Denmark’s Opstand Gospel Choir and the Gospel Fellowship, in the 1980s.

Hans Christian spoke to TBGB from Denmark last week about the growing acceptance of gospel music in Europe, his recent collaboration with Fred Hammond, and his ensemble’s forthcoming debut trip to the U.S.

HC: When I was attending the Academy of Music, I earned money being a choir director for different community choirs.  Not gospel choirs, just community choirs.  When we did one or two gospel songs, I noticed the whole atmosphere in the choir changed.  I wondered what was going on.  After trying that a few times, I thought, “I’ll start a gospel choir and see what happens.”  This was about twenty-five years ago.  It was not something I planned.  I didn’t know much about gospel at the time. 

The Opstand Gospel Choir is twenty years old, and many of the people that I have in the choir are also active in the Gospel Fellowship church.  The Gospel Fellowship ensemble comes out of the larger choir.

HC: It was not easy.  Not before the Internet.  I had a few CDs from the States.  When I started the first gospel choir, it was when Kirk Franklin had the Family, so I got hold of his CDs and we did some of their music.  Kirk Franklin and the Family was a big inspiration.

As far as choir influences, I listened a lot to the Thompson Community Singers.  I probably have all of their CDs!  I had a chance to meet Reverend Brunson at his church before he died.  It was one of the first times I ever visited an African American church.

HC: The dominant church in Denmark is the Lutheran state church.  It is very traditional, very classical.  Hymns, organ music.  That is still the case for most of the churches in Denmark. 

So gospel music is still the little brother in the church.  Some people didn’t feel that gospel music belonged in the church.  I thought, “What are you talking about?!”  So we did concerts at sports halls, concert halls, and then more and more churches opened up and invited gospel choirs and gospel music.  Not into the services as much, but we can be in the churches. 

HC:  Hezekiah Walker, Fred Hammond, John P. Kee—some of the guys who have been there for many years and are still there.  The problem is that most of their songs work really well if you come from the same cultural and church background.  Here in Denmark, many of the songs will not work.  Liturgically, they are very different from where we were and, in many cases, still are in Europe, so they need to be adapted. 

For example, when you are in African American churches and you go into the vamp, you can stay there for 25 minutes.  That doesn’t work over here, because for many people, gospel music is just music.  It’s an art form, but it’s just music.  Then, at some point, people start connecting with it on different levels, and that’s when it becomes interesting.  That’s why we started a gospel music church in Copenhagen called the Gospel Fellowship.  We try to put gospel music in the right element, to show people that gospel music is church music, that when we sing gospel music, we sing to God, we sing about God, and about who we are in Him.  We try to build a bridge back to the church through the music.

HC: I don’t think you would know any of my songs in the States, but in Europe they are quite popular.  Many of my songs are used by choirs in Europe.  The song, “You Are,” I wrote that.  I wrote all of the music we will present when we travel to New York.

HC: Kirk Franklin has been an inspiration because in many of his songs, he addresses everyday problems and situations that can be difficult for everyone.  Also, he points to God and to hope.  That’s something I also try to do in my songwriting.  I try to describe what it is like for me to be a believer and what it is like for me when life is tough. 

HC: He toured Europe in 2008 and 2009, and we got the chance to open for him at three concerts.  He was very excited about the choir and my songs, and he invited the whole choir to his dressing room afterward.  We talked about what gospel music was like over here in Europe.

HC: All of the musicians on our current album, You Are, are American.  One of the keyboard players, Bobby Sparks, works closely with Fred.  One day, I asked Bobby if he thought Fred would be interested in working with us.  He played our music for Fred, and a few months later, I got a text that Fred wanted me to call him.  We talked, and Fred listened to more of our music, and he agreed to be part of the album.

You Are has not been released in the States, but it is available in Europe.  There’s not a big release or marketing push for the CD in Europe because over here, commercially, gospel music is still not a very big thing.  Those who have heard the album, though, are very excited about it.

HC: Israel Houghton—I’m a very big fan of his songs and the way he ministers.

HC: Pastor Anthony Trufant of Emmanuel Baptist Church and EBC’s Sacred Arts Ministry set up this tour.  The Gospel Fellowship ensemble and I will be in New York for a week, visiting different churches and giving quite a few concerts.

We will never be able to sound like a black gospel choir.  It doesn’t really work when you are not black and you come from Denmark!  If we tried, it would just be pathetic, trying to sound like something we are not!  So I try to find the inspiration and intensity and energy that is in the gospel music DNA from the States and let that flow into the musical traditions we have here.   

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Hans Christian and the Gospel Fellowship will celebrate Gospel Music Heritage Month by visiting the New York City area September 25 through September 30, 2013.  The Gospel Fellowship will present a concert at Emmanuel Baptist Church in Brooklyn (Reverend Anthony L. Trufant, senior pastor), among other live performances, and will also participate in various media and promotional activities in New York City and throughout the Northeast region. 

To learn more about Hans Christian and the Gospel Fellowship, visit