The Southern Gospel Choir is unique in Australia.  Their very contemporary sound draws on the grooves and harmonic structures of jazz, funk, soul, house and hip-hop and yet maintains the heart and soul of traditional gospel through beautiful and powerful melodies and vocal arrangements, and the irrepressible, uncontainable joy that is gospel music.

The Southern Gospel Choir came to prominence in 2001 through their highly successful performances at the Hobart Summer Festival.  In 2003 they were featured artists for the Choral Island event at Port Arthur during the 10 Days on the Island Festival.  That year they also played to 1200 peopleas part of the Burnie Shines Festival. In 2004 they performed two sell-out concerts in Hobart, one of which was along with the internationally renowned vocal quartet, The Idea of North. More recently, the SGC were invited to record a song for the MYER Spirit of Christmas album along side Australian music industry icons Guy Sebastian and Delta Goodrem.

The choir is highly experienced in performance for corporate events, having performed at numerous functions and conventions and this powerful choir are at home singing in outdoor venues, wineries, the Federation Concert Hall, the Theatre Royal or community halls and theatres.  The Southern Gospel Choir is one of the most flexible music ensembles in Australia, able to provide a stylish sextet or a huge, roof-raising gospel sound, and boasts some of the best up-and-coming contemporary singers in Australia.

The choir is supported by a six-piece band drawn from the elite of Tasmania’s musicians, featuring saxophone, drums, bass, piano, keyboards and the inimitable sound of the Hammond organ.  The choir can also be ably supported by the brilliant solo piano accompaniment of Andrew Legg.

Andrew Legg is a graduate of the University of Tasmania Conservatorium of Music, and has performed with some of the most respected gospel choirs and artists in the USA. He has undertaken postgraduate studies at the Tuskeegee Institute and the Martin Luther King University.

In 1997 he was invited to the Gospel Music Workshop of America in Cincinnati as part of their 30th anniversary celebrations where he performed as a featured artist and lecturer in gospel piano. He will visit the US again this year in September as a guest of Boston University and the First Missionary Black Baptist Church where he will deliver the keynote address on the "Globalization of American Hymnody."

Andrew is currently Coordinator of Contemporary Music at the Conservatorium and Director of Music at St Clements Anglican Church, Kingston.

Maria Lurighi studied opera with Peter Rorke at the Darling Downs Institute of Advanced Education and in Hobart with Russell Smith.

After travelling to Europe for a few years, she returned to Australia and began performing in a funk band "Washington Wives" she specialised in the music of Aretha Franklin, Gladys Night and Jocelyn Brown.

She has performed with artists such as Brachi Tilles, David Kramm, Natalia Afeyan, Hartmut Lindemann and Ben Martin in venues including the VCA Opera Studio and Melba Hall.

Her recent performances have included the Soul to Jazz concert in the Conservatorium's Charting the Changes Festival and a production of Dido and Aeneas in Bendigo with the local orchestra and choir. Maria is delighted to be part of the Gospel Music Team.