ABBA The Museum has now chosen the international finalists to the museum choir!

ABBA The Museum is putting together a choir to celebrate the 40th anniversary of ABBA’s international breakthrough at the Eurovision Song Contest in 1974. The choir will perform for the first time at the museum on April 6th. Choir singers from all over the world have applied for the sought-after choir position – The Missing Member. Interest has been great, with applications from over 50 countries.

The jury has now selected 10 choir singers who will compete in the final where a winner will be crowned. All the contributions can be seen and voted for on the museum’s facebook page. The finalists are from Argentina, Australia, Brazil, the UK, The Netherlands, Canada, Mexico, Taiwan and the US. ABBA The Museum’s jury will present the winner on February 18th. See the complete list on abbathemuseum.com and facebook.

– The work selecting the finalists has been both fantastic and also difficult, because many of them are great singers, says Mattias Hansson, CEO ABBA The Museum. So we decided to increase the number of finalist slots from five to ten. We are now entering the final stage and will soon choose a winner, he adds.

Once the jury has selected the lucky number one, the international choir member will be digitally coached and trained by choir master Karin Bäckström.

Karin, who works as a music teacher at Adolf Fredrik’s Music School in Stockholm, comments:

– We have already started practicing and are, of course, waiting impatiently for our missing member. The level of the choir is remarkably high, which is wonderful but will also be demanding of the singer that is chosen. We are just in the beginning of what will be an intense period of training, but there is no doubt about it; this choir will be a success. 

The international choir member will be flown to Stockholm to participate in the premiere performance on April 6th, 40 years to the day that ABBA won the Eurovision Song Contest.

The choir will perform several of ABBA’s greatest hits such as Waterloo, Thank You For The Music and Chiquitita, songs that have new arrangements exclusively for the choir, written by Göran Arnberg. Göran has worked as Benny Andersson’s music copyist and is a member of Benny Andersson’s Orchestra, BAO.

The museum recommends that anyone who wants to be guaranteed a place at the choir’s performance on April 6th buys an entrance ticket for the time slots between 10:00 and 14:00. Tickets can be purchased at the museum on Djurgårdsvägen 68 in Stockholm or online at abbathemuseum.com.

Karin Bäckström
Karin Bäckström was trained at The Royal College of Music in Stockholm and has had an impressive career as a choir master. Karin Bäckström currently works as a music teacher at Adolf Fredrik’s Music School and leads the Adolf Fredrik girls’ choir. In 2012 she led the girls’ choir to victory in the international choir contest in Malcesine, Italy.

Göran Arnberg
Göran Arnberg has worked at Oscarsteatern with stage productions such as Phantom of the Opera, Cabaret and My Fair Lady. He has also been worked on productions of Chess (keyboard) and Mamma Mia! (musical director). Göran has been Benny Andersson’s music copyist for over ten years and is a member of Benny Andersson’s Orchestra, BAO.

ABBA The Museum
ABBA The Museum first opened its doors to the public on May 7th, 2013 and is located on Djurgården, between Liljevalchs and Gröna Lund. ABBA is one of the world’s most successful music groups with over 378 million albums sold. ABBA The Museum gives a comprehensive presentation of the group, from the formation of ABBA in the 1960’s, to the breakthrough with Waterloo in 1974, the big world tours, and up to the band’s pause in 1982.

Since the opening, the museum has had over 275,000 visitors.

Tickets can be purchased at abbathemuseum.com and at ABBA The Museum’s partner SJ, www.sj.se

Press contact

ABBA The Museum: press@abbathemuseum.com, +46 – 73 934 35 05

ABBA The Museum

Opening hours

10:00 – 18:00 (Monday-Tuesday).

10:00 – 20:00 (Wednesday-Thursday).

10:00 – 18:00 (Friday-Sunday).

Tickets

Adults 195 SEK, children up to 6 years of age enter free of charge.

Special fees for children 7-15. Reduced rate family tickets available.

Book at www.abbathemuseum.com

Stay updated at www.facebook.com/abbathemuseum

Visiting address

Djurgårdsvägen 68, Djurgården, Stockholm.