About us
About us
Journey Gospel Choir brings gospel that moves. On stage, in the room, between the people singing together.
We perform gospel at a high artistic level: in theatres, churches and concert halls, on festival stages and in clubs. We preserve gospel as a musical tradition and renew it through contemporary repertoire, cross-genre collaborations and productions that take social themes seriously.
Gospel has always responded to its time. We weave it with soul, R&B and house music, genres that speak the same language: community, rhythm, voices that carry people with them. We are a choir that not only sings, but sets things in motion.
Journey Gospel Choir is a development platform for vocal talent. We invest in artistic coaching, training and education, for
experienced singers and for those who are taking their voice seriously for the first time. That is not a footnote. It is one of the reasons this choir exists.
Connection is at the heart of our journey. Within Journey Gospel Choir, people with different backgrounds, ages, beliefs and musical experiences come together. That diversity makes our sound richer and our sense of community stronger. From that togetherness come real voices, real stories and real encounters.
“I come for the music. I stay for the people.” — Michelle · Alto, Journey Gospel Choir
Richard Schoonhoven
Richard Schoonhoven is the founder and artistic director of Journey Gospel Choir. He studied at the ArtEZ Conservatorium in Zwolle and completed the International Master Artist Educator programme at ArtEZ University of the Arts in Arnhem.
A journey to South Africa in 2015 brought him to the founders of the Grammy Award-winning Soweto Gospel Choir. That meeting grew into a lasting friendship and a deep engagement with gospel as a musical and cultural tradition. He has since worked as a vocal coach and workshop leader across the Netherlands.
As creative producer at Moonyard Productions, he has realised choir productions including Journey through Black Gospel, Thula Nana and DHLOMO, working with internationally renowned artists including Michelle Davids, Shirley Hlahatse (The Lion King) and Kine Fossheim. He is also producer at ISH Dance Collective.
