By Jerome Langston
Speaking with award-winning choir conductor and workshop leader, Karen Gibson, MBE, the founder of the Kingdom Choir, the highly successful London based gospel choir, via Zoom a few days ago, felt akin to chatting with a genuine friend. Karen exudes warmth and humility, and it was so fascinating to learn that Black Christian culture has its own lengthy history across the pond as well. Besides being the founder of the famous choir, she is also its conductor. Early next month, the Kingdom Choir will perform a holiday themed concert at the historic Attucks Theatre, in downtown Norfolk.
Karen was born and raised in London, growing up as a kid in the seventies and early eighties. And though she was not a preacher’s kid, she did grow up in a BMC, black majority church, so she was nevertheless exposed to lots of gospel music, and to singing in the church often. “My mum wanted to keep my sister and myself out of trouble. (She) sent us to have piano lessons,” says Karen, early on in our chat. “She wanted to keep us occupied. She was a single mother, and so she often wasn’t at home. She worked 3 jobs.”
Karen first started singing seriously, with an acapella gospel vocal group. There were six of them in the group, ranging in ages from 12 to 18. She was the eldest. They performed their music in churches and at Christian events, throughout London. And then eventually, they formed a gospel group that played wind instruments. Karen played the oboe. Hearing “The Question Is,” an early eighties classic from The Winans, the influential American gospel music quartet from Detroit, was a turning point for her, and her group. “That’s why we started singing, because of that song,” she says. “That was revolutionary for us.” From those early years, Karen started making a name for herself in the UK’s gospel music scene, by directing various choirs, leading workshops, and teaching music in schools.
“I was never very sure that I wanted to do music full-time, but I really loved it,” she later says. “It just happened, bit by bit by bit, but I really do see God’s hand in it, all along.” She formally founded the Kingdom Choir in 1994, as the opportunity arose to be featured on the legendary BBC One Christian music program, Songs of Praise. One of the show’s producers called her, saying that they loved her choir, and that they wanted them to perform for the program’s 35th birthday. At the time, the choir was just the host choir for a radio program, so overnight, Karen had to come up with a name. She says she dreamt of the name, and decided upon it the next day, when the producer called her back.
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The Kingdom Choir would go on to have success over the years, through various personnel changes and challenges. Karen tells me there are currently about 40 members in the choir. Yet it wasn’t till the Royal wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle in 2019, which was a huge cultural moment in both the United States and the UK, that the gospel choir achieved international fame overnight. I ask Karen what that experience was like, and she’s quite candid about what led to their performance of “Stand By Me,” at the wedding, which was watched by a massive global audience.
Karen got a call from a person who handled PR for a then Prince Charles, inviting her and the Kingdom Choir to perform at the wedding. It was of course top secret, so she couldn’t tell anyone, so she just had to secure the availability of various choir members. And they had just about 2 months to prepare. “They chose the song, ‘Stand By Me,’ well I was most unhappy…” she says, because it was a simple song that she’d taught to kids, and wouldn’t allow them to “show off a bit.” The Royal wedding team was adamant though, and then they told her they wanted the arrangement “pared back and stripped down, with less beat.” Karen and her musical team submitted a half-dozen versions of “Stand By Me,” that the wedding’s organizing team was unhappy with. Both sides were getting frustrated. It wasn’t till a meeting at Kensington Palace, where they met Prince Harry and Meghen Markle, that Karen discovered a very simple arrangement that the wedding planners actually enjoyed. Attempts to jazz it up though, fell flat with them again. It was the 12th version that we all eventually heard during the Saturday wedding. And it was simple, but fantastic. “God really came through for us, because we did not know what we were doing,” she says, with a slight chuckle.
That performance at “the wedding” of our young century, opened many opportunities for Karen and the choir. They signed a record deal with Sony Music UK. They released a well-received album, and have continued to play sold-out dates around the world. And Karen received the highly prestigious MBE (Member of the Order of the British Empire) in 2020, for her contributions to British music. Many national TV and festival appearances for the choir have followed. For their upcoming concert here in Norfolk, which is part of a new tour starting next week, Karen tells me that they are “bringing the Kingdom Choir flavor, to some Christmas favorites, as well as bringing some of own material.” She’s excited about the new arrangements. And she does say that we will definitely hear their version of “Stand By Me.” Before ending our chat, we talk a bit about the 30-year anniversary of the choir, this year, and how they are excited about recording new music in 2025. Karen recognizes that she is a public figure, but doesn’t embrace any aspect of celebrity. “It’s the mission that drives me. It’s the fact that gospel music is transformative. It really does change people’s lives.”
WANT TO GO?
The Kingdom Choir
Presented by Virginia Arts Festival
December 3
Attucks Theatre
Jerome L. Langston is a widely published arts and culture writer, who has written for Port Folio Weekly, The Virginian-Pilot, Style Weekly, and the Washington City Paper. Currently he covers theatre and music for Veer Magazine.
