Johannebergskyrkan Choir Concert: From darkness to light

Katie Thomas is a British (Welsh) choral conductor. Since 2023 she is Chorus Director of the Gothenburg Symphony Choir as well as conductor and artistic director of the Gothenburg Symphony Vocal Ensemble. She is also a guest lecturer in choral conducting and leader of the chamber choir at the University of Theater and Music in Gothenburg. Previous engagements include nine years as voice coach for the BBC Chorus, freelance assignments as guest choir director and conductor at the BBC Singers, MDR Rundfunkchor, National Youth Choirs of Great Britain and the Junior Royal College of Music. She has been a teacher of choral conducting technique at the Association of British Choral Directors and a judge at choral festivals worldwide within the organization INTERKULTUR. As a professional soprano, Katie Thomas has been involved with the UK's leading choirs, such as the Monteverdi Choir under Sir John Eliot Gardiner, Polyphony and the Academy of Ancient Music. She has performed at major concert arenas in Europe and the USA, including the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Musikverein Vienna and Carnegie Hall in New York. Together with London Voices, she has recorded several soundtracks for film and video games, often in the well-known Abbey Road Studios, as well as concerts for both television and radio.  Katie Thomas graduated from Cardiff University and the Royal Academy of Music in London. In 2020, she was appointed Associate of the Royal Academy of Music (ARAM) in the UK for outstanding contributions to professional music life and significant contributions to conducting and choral music.

The Gothenburg Symphony Vocal Ensemble (GSVE) was formed in 2016 and consists of 12 professional singers. The ensemble works both as part of the Gothenburg Symphony Choir in major symphonic works performed together with the Gothenburg Symphony, and as an independent ensemble under the direction of Katie Thomas. GSVE is a group of experienced and versatile singers, who perform varied programs and explore a wide repertoire, from medieval music to newly commissioned works. The ensemble has previously collaborated with, among others, the Helsingborg Symphony Orchestra and the Barockakademin Göteborgs Symfoniker and performs regular vocal programs both in Gothenburg's Concert Hall and around the Västra Götaland region.

The choir was founded in 1917 by cousins Elsa and Wilhelm Stenhammar. Elsa Stenhammar was one of the driving forces in turn-of-the-century choir life in Gothenburg and became the choir's first rehearser. On December 8, 1917, the choir debuted in Beethoven's Choir Fantasy with Wilhelm Stenhammar as soloist at the grand piano. As the country's oldest symphonic choir, they were able to celebrate their 100th anniversary in 2017 with a big celebratory concert where Mozart and Brahms as well as Stenhammar, Elfrida Andrée and Björn & Benny were on the program. The Gothenburg Symphony Choir is a non-profit association that is linked to the Gothenburg Symphony. The choir participates in concerts and performances under both the orchestra's and its own auspices. The music is mixed and the repertoire extensive. The Gothenburg Symphony Choir has participated in concerts in, among other places, the Royal Albert Hall and Canterbury Cathedral in England, as well as participated with the Gothenburg Symphony in the annual music festival in the Canary Islands and on a tour to China.