Liverpool’s Love & Joy Gospel Choir to take part in first ever public concert at the Vatican

The Vatican is set to host its first public concert this Saturday and Liverpool’s Love & Joy Gospel Choir are set to take part.

History will be made on 13 September at 20:00 in St. Peter’s Square as the Vatican hosts its first public concert. “Grace for the World” is set to close the third World Meeting on Human Fraternity with an unforgettable evening of live performances by global superstars and choirs from all over the world bearing a unifying message.

Anu Omideyi, Director of the National Gospel Music Centre based at Liverpool Lighthouse, a charity based in Anfield working to create thriving communities of people living more fulfilled lives, is taking 60 singers from across the UK to form part of a global choir of 250 singers from all over the world.

Members of Liverpool’s Love & Joy Gospel Choir, from Liverpool Lighthouse will be bringing Love & Joy to Vatican Jubilee in Rome this weekend. Joining the Mersey Gospel stars will be choirs from London, Coventry, Bradford, Kent, Rochester and Essex. The UK delegation features celebrated gospel choirs and artists such as Volney Morgan & New Ye, Clive Brown, Urban Sound, Cedars Choir and many more. Together, they’ll form part of an international choir performing under the musical direction of Adam Blackstone, alongside the Choir of the Diocese of Rome.

Pharrell, Bocelli, Jennifer Hudson & Karol G Headline Vatican’s First-Ever Public Concert. “Grace for the World” will bring the World Meeting on Human Fraternity to a breathtaking finale with live music and a luminous drone show in a powerful call for global unity. Co-directed by Pharrell Williams and Andrea Bocelli, the lineup also includes Jennifer Hudson, Karol G, K-Pop star BamBam and rapping duo Clipse.

The concert will bring together music, reflection, and visual storytelling in a singular live experience and feature live performances by Bocelli, Williams with the Voices of Fire Gospel Choir, Teddy Swims, John Legend and a 350-person international choir. There will also be an aerial drone and light show by Nova Sky Stories, including imagery inspired by the Sistine Chapel.

Anu Omideyi Director of the National Gospel Music Centre with Love & Joy Choir credit Brian Roberts — Credit: Brian Roberts

Anu Omideyi launched the UK’s first ever mainstream gospel music festival in 2023 and Liverpool Lighthouse is the only National Portfolio Organisation covering gospel music funded by the Arts Council in the UK.

Anu Omideyi, Director of the National Gospel Music Centre said:

“At a time when there is so much tension and division around our differences as human beings, this event in the Vatican is a wonderfully refreshing opportunity for people of all nations to come together in a message of what one of its directors, Pharrell Williams, has called a message of unity and grace for all humanity. It is our utmost privilege, as the National Gospel Music Centre based at Liverpool Lighthouse, to be able to gather singers from across the UK to participate in this rare cultural and spiritual moment.”

The aims of the National Gospel Music Centre are the promotion of Gospel Music to new audiences, development of new and existing Gospel Music artists and promoting understanding and awareness of the historic roots of Gospel Music. Current activities of the NGMC are the development of the Liverpool Gospel Music Festival – the UK’s first mainstream gospel music festival, the Gospel Music into Schools project, support for established and emerging gospel music artists through the Lighthouse Artist’s Initiative and partnering with the Gospel Music Industry Alliance on the development of the Gospel Music Hall Archives – an archive collecting, curating and sharing the history and impact of gospel music in the UK.

The event, which will also be celebrating the “2025 Jubilee Year,” is open to the public in Rome and will stream live on Disney+, Hulu, and ABC News Live on Sept. 13 at 3 p.m. ET.