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Happiness Choir Project was founded in the Methodist Church of Arendal
in 1978, and "Happines Gospelkor" (Happiness Gospel Choir) was its first name. Starting basically as a choir for children, the age limit to sing in the choir has been raised gradually, and the youngest people in the choir today are about 18 years old.
The musical "Holos" was the choir’s first release in 1986. The musical was written and composed by its musical leader Stein "the Rock" Jonassen. "Holos" was well received both at home in Norway and abroad. The choir also got to sing on Danish television early on. Working on it’s second cd, the choir has already released two cassettes and one cd.
In the cooperation with a choir from Kristiansand called "Take Off", Happiness Gospel Choir first released the cassette "Juletoner" (Christmas tunes). The cassette is a collection of well known christmas tunes recorded with a twist of rock. On the second cassette "Hemland" (Homeland), the choir accompanies the Christian artists "Birgitta" and "Svante". In 1995 the choir had two of its songs released on the cd "Choir", which is a collection of songs from different Norwegian choirs from around the country. The songs of Happiness Gospel Choir were very well received among the critics.
The desire for our own cd, resulted in the 1997 production "The Sound of His Heart". The choir’s musical leader Stein Jonassen wrote lyrics and composed the music. He also acted as the producer in the cd production. The cd has an assorted selection from groovy gospel songs, to more traditional songs of worship and psalms. The production may be said to have been inspired by American west coast rock, and can’t easily be put in category with other releases from Norwegian gospel choirs. Critics embraced the innovation both in tunes and rhythms of "the Sound of His Heart". The lyrics really make one think, they ask questions, but at the same time they also give hope. The choir has had a loyal set of professional musicians through the years, who also accompanies the singers on "the Sound of His Heart". The recording of the cd took about nine months, and got a lot of attention. As an example did the newspaper "Agderposten" do an article on how life was in the recording studio this period. The cd was a lot of work and required quite a bit of patience, but the result was absolutely something to be proud of.
In between the cd productions, the choir has held a lot of live concerts both in Norway and abroad. Starting in the early 90s, the choir gathered people in the Methodist Church of Arendal for weekly and very popular "gospel nights". Also other choirs were invited to participate on these nights in the worship of Christ.
The artist "Bjørn Aslaksen" released his cd "Mitt kjæreste eie"(My dearest) in 1997, and the choir got to go on the road with him on the release tour the same year. In the period from 1996-97 the choir held two large concerts in cooperation with the band "Arendal Ungdomskorps". This was followed up by two more concerts the following years in cooperation with "Arendal Byorkester".
Going on tour to visit other countries has been an important and fun part of what the choir has been working with. Friendship has been made in countries like Egypt, England Germany, Italy, Israel, Poland and Russia.
Through changes and progress the most important thing for the choir has always been to spread the word of Jesus Christ as the saviour and the only way to God. The quality of the choir’s work is to His praise alone.
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