From December 13 to January 1, US gospel choirs in Rome for the 27th edition
As is tradition, the Roma Gospel Festival returns to Rome’s Auditorium Parco della Musica from 13 December 2026 to 1 January 2027.
The festival features the best American choirs and gospel groups and is the largest of its kind in Europe. With such a venue, the goal to involve all listeners and have them participate in the shows is easily achievable. So don’t hesitate to wave, sing along, or simply clap with everyone else for a unique and encompassing experience.
The festival opens with a preview on December 13 featuring Melodees From Heaven, a project born from the meeting of The Gospel Harmonettes and The Sweet Inspiration, which takes gospel toward groove, soul, blues, Afrobeat and Caribbean rhythms. The setlist includes spirituals, traditional gospel and modern songs, with original arrangements of “Oh Happy Day” and “Amazing Grace.”
On December 20, it’s the turn of Eric Waddell & The Abundant Life Singers, one of the leading groups on the Baltimore gospel scene. The choir has performed at the Kennedy Center and at presidential inaugurations, and has a strong connection with Italy: eight years of touring, nearly 200 concerts and a live album recorded in Rome in 2023.
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On Monday, December 21, the Florida Inspirational Singers take the stage: fifteen artists from Orlando and Tampa blending spirituals, soul and contemporary sounds. The group is led by producer and keyboardist Nathan Mitchell, a Grammy nominee, and pastor John Polk, a former backing vocalist on tours with Donnie McClurkin and Yolanda Adams.
On December 22, John Lakin & Friends arrive from South Carolina with “The Gospel Sound,” a concert mixing classics and new compositions. Lakin, a singer-songwriter and bandleader with over thirty years of experience, has written songs that made Billboard’s gospel chart and has earned one Dove Awards nomination and four Stellar Awards nominations.
On December 23, the spotlight is on the New York City Gospel Choir, directed by Mark Anthony Henry, former musical director for Cissy Houston. Its singers have worked with Stevie Wonder, Whitney Houston and Aretha Franklin. For the festival, the choir presents a program of Christmas songs alongside standards such as “Total Praise” and “Oh Happy Day.”
On Christmas Day, the Harlem Gospel Choir, founded in New York in 1986, returns for its traditional double show at 5:30 pm and 9 pm. This year the choir presents “Remembering Whitney & Tina,” a tribute to Whitney Houston and Tina Turner, two voices who grew up singing gospel in Black churches.
On December 26, 27 and 28, Arthur Gremillion & Friends Community Choir takes the stage. In 2024 the choir won first place in the “Large Choir” category at the How Sweet the Sound festival, and the year before it was named “Community Choir of the Year” at the Sound Awards. On the same days, pastor Gremillion leads the “Total Gospel Experience” workshop, open to anyone aged 18 and over. Participants can join the choir on stage for the December 28 concert.
On December 29, it’s the turn of Vincent Bohanan & The Victorious Army, a group founded in Atlanta in 2019 and led by Bohanan, winner of a Stellar Award in 2025. On stage: 23 voices with piano, bass and drums.
On December 30, Emmanuel Pi Djob arrives, a Cameroonian-born artist and naturalized French citizen, with Feelin’s 9 and the Soul Sisters of Gospel, in a concert that blends soul, gospel and African rhythms.
The festival closes with Vincent Tharpe & Kenosis, three-time Gospel Awards nominees, on the evening of December 31 at 10 pm and on January 1 at 6 pm. The ensemble combines vocal finesse, R&B, soul and traditional arrangements, and choreography that gives the show plenty of energy.
This is an event that delivers to its audience the beauty, splendour, and depth of classical and contemporary Gospel music.
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