Brighton Goes Gospel to Bring LOVE TRAIN to Brighton Fringe 2013, May 18

Steaming into their 13th year as one of Brighton's best loved community choirs, Brighton Goes Gospel present their new show, Love Train, at Hove Town Hall on 18th May at 7pm. Led by their director, internationally prominent gospel artist, Karen Gibson, it promises to be an electric evening.

Along with special guest, Susan Harriott, a renowned gospel singer, this high-energy show will get pulses racing and hearts beating. This concert is love themed and will include a wide repertoire of hand clapping, foot stomping gospel numbers. Supporting the choir will be the truly marvellous JT Band, which is led by BGG's musical director Jason Thompson, a composer and performer in his own right.

With over 120 members in two separate choirs (the workshop and performance choirs) the group is a colourful and eclectic mix of passionate singers. The choir aims to bring a new range of gospel music to their audience, proving that the genre isn't all 'Oh Happy Day', but still includes some classic numbers for the audience to join in with.

The choir focuses on gospel music, but has an entirely secular ethos - their goal is to create a choir that is inclusive to as many as possible, irrespective of ability, sexuality, race, or religion. This philosophy is reflected by the diverse group of singers who come from Brighton and the surrounding communities, bound by the love of singing gospel.

BGG performs twice yearly; once during the Brighton Fringe and once at Christmas time, and the concerts have received rave reviews year after year from the local media. Regular singers at the Brighton Marathon, and with performances at the Labour party conference and Royal Albert Hall under their belt, this choir may be community in name but they are professionals by nature.

Booking information: Brighton Goes Gospel's Love Train plays on Saturday 18th May, Hove Town Hall. Doors 6.15pm, Performance 7pM. Price: £10 (full) £8 (conc.) £6 (under 12). Tickets can be booked from Brighton Fringe Box Office, by calling 01273 917272 or by going online to www.brightonfringe.org.

Karen has been involved with vocal groups and choirs for over 20 years. She conducts gospel workshops all over the world. Karen has been instrumental in drawing together and conducting some of the most prestigious large-scale choirs for a variety of gospel and community initiatives. These include The Queen's Jubilee, The Global Day of Prayer and Concert for Diana. Numbers in the choirs have ranged between 200 and 3000. In addition to the choirs that Karen facilitates, she is the founder of UPC, a vibrant youth choir and award-winning Kingdom Choir (kingdomchoir.co.uk) Karen has been featured in the first ever book written about British Gospel Music. The book, entitled 'British Black Gospel' is written by Steve Alexander Smith and cites Karen as a pioneer of the sound of gospel in this country.

Jason Thompson is a gifted pianist who has been playing around the world for over 27 years. He has successfully straddled the worlds of jazz, blues, pop, R&B, classical and gospel music. His talents include composing, arranging, choir directing, piano and vocal tutoring, session singing and workshop leading. The JT Band (Jazz That!), established by Jason, has been running for over 10 years, and Jason's Jazz That! Jason was the Musical Director for "Simply Heavenly" in London's West End. He was also the only musician to play for the funeral of Desmond Dekker in June 2006.

For more information about Brighton Goes Gospel, visit www.brightongoesgospel.org.uk.

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