Young Swedish Singers make tour stop in Elgin June 26

The Young Swedish Singers, a 43-member gospel singing group from Hasslehom, Skane, Sweden, will appear in concert at 6 p.m. Sunday, June 26, at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, Route 20 and Nesler Road in Elgin.

The group's tour includes stops in Illinois, Missouri, Ohio, Michigan, Indiana and Kansas, June 16 to July 3.

The concert is being supported by the members and families of Good Shepherd and St. John Lutheran churches of Elgin.

This youth choir, founded by Director Birgitta Rosland in 1991, comes from a very musical Lutheran church in the far south of Sweden. Choir members range in age from teenagers to young adults in their early 20s. This is their sixth U.S. tour in 14 years.

The Young Swedish Singers' concert, sung mostly in English, will include gospel, hymns, and Swedish folk music. The choir is directed by Birgitta Rosland and assisted by her husband Connie Rosland.

The choir will be hosted by approximately 300 families during their 2½-week tour. The choir will perform at 16 churches and two Swedish festivals while they are here. This is the choir's second visit to Good Shepherd in Elgin.

Choir members have raised funds to cover not only their airfare to the U.S., but their bus transportation for the entire tour. All offering and CD income received during the tour will benefit Shepherd's Canyon Retreat, a nonprofit ministry providing counseling retreats for pastors and their spouses in Phoenix, Arizona.

Here is a sneak peek of one of their songs on the Good Shepherd website at www.goodshepherd-elgin.org.

Other area concerts will be: 7 p.m. Friday, June 17, at Bethany Lutheran Church in Crystal Lake; 7 p.m. Thursday, June 23, at Trinity Lutheran in Burr Ridge; 7 p.m. Friday, June 24, at Salem Lutheran in Rockford; and Saturday, June 25 at Geneva's Swedish Days.