In the winter of 2012 a group of mothers decided to come together to sing songs and share traditions from Sweden with their East London community. We called ourselves The Vyner Street Choir back then. Our first  performance, a traditional  Swedish Lucia procession took place at a Scandinavian café in Clapton.

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Åsa Lindström-Hasselblad directed and shaped the choir for seven successful years; taking us to four harmonies, sold out concerts and corporate gigs, before handing over the conductor’s baton to Sara Jenkin in 2019, who now leads the choir, with assistance from Åsa.

 

Most of our members are of Swedish heritage, while some, including Sara, do not speak Swedish as their first language. We're still gaining in numbers as new singers are keen to join us, however quite a few of the original members remain with us!

Norrsång's repertoire and chosen arrangements draw from Swedish folk traditions but with a contemporary sensibility. We embrace the distinctive harmonic colours and surprising melodic turns of Nordic music, performing mostly a cappella with natural, expressive voices.

Our sound shifts with the seasons—spirited and bright for midsummer celebrations, ethereal and mystical for winter Lucia concerts. Through our strong feminine voices, we aim to celebrate our Nordic heritage, joy, and community. Our performances seek to create moods that connect audiences to these living traditions, revealing their timeless magical qualities in ways that resonate.
 

We keep learning, challenging ourselves and improving musically, and we frequently perform sold out concerts and festivals, and are more than happy to sing at your corporate functions and events. 

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Over the years we have changed our name a couple of times, and we are now called NORRSÅNG -  East London Swedish Choir. We chose the name Norrsång (Songs of the North) to reflect the Nordic heritage of the majority of our members, as well as the origin of many of the songs we like to sing. 

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We can’t quite believe it, but we celebrated our ten year anniversary in December 2022!