Leif Åkesson - An archtic choir leader Early Years Leif Åkesson was born 8/30/1955 in the small village of Jörn in the northern part of Sweden, but was brought up in the nearby gold mining town of Skellefteå. His family has a history of both musical achievements and athletic fame in the hometown, which influenced Leif to try both. In early years, singing together with his siblings, and learning the musical basics on the recorder and with the violin, was paralelled with a career in the local football (soccer) team, where he reached the second division. His coach was upset to see him give up the sports to concentrate on music. The first Skellefteå period Between the ages of 14 and 20, Leif participated in several vocal constellations within the local church. The first was a male group in the footsteps of the Golden Gate Quartette, where he sang the top tenor part since his voice had not yet darkened. For about 2 years the group “Strängarna”, constituted of 5 girls and 3 boys, sang in every church in the area at an average of two performances per week. This group sang mostly four part harmony in the style of Anita Kerr Singers, but with most of the arrangements improvised during rehearsals. This period was an important basis for Leif’s well developed sense for harmony and arranging. In parallel, Leif sang in the local church youth choir, getting his first experience with album recording (“Jag kastar min glädje”, Cantio, 1971). For the Skellefteå Chamber Choir, where Leif consequently joined, he also earned his first money on music when arranging the theme from “Love Story” for the choir. The Umeå session When moving to Umeå for military service and university studies, Leif formed a quartette, based back home in Skellefteå, together with the soprano Ingela Granlund (married Lundmark), the alto Thory Petterson (currently Mrs Åkesson), and the tenor Bengt Burström. This group, named “de’ Våras” (“Spring Singers”) issued one album 1978 (“de’ Våras”, Cantio) and a follow-up three years later (“De’ Våras: Våga Leva”, Cantio), toured Sweden and the rest of the nordic countries, and even made a tour to Lithuania. Several appearances on national radio and TV, as well as on Jazz festivals were performed. The group, which still performs occationally, was famous for a perfect blend and for a mix between simplicity and complexity, inspired by groups like the Swingle Singers and the Hi-Lo’s. It was also one of the first groups to perform both christian songs and other music within and outside the churches with the same authority. Leif, besides developing his skills as a singer, also continued to improve his composing and arranging skills. Also, during this period, Leif joined the choir “Umeå ungdomskör”, under the direction of Nils-Erik Öhman.The choir changed its name to “Sångkraft” and together with friends in this choir, Leif formed the octette Moritz. Among the achievements with this group were the workshops given at the famous Skinnskatteberg choir festival, concerts at the Umeå Jazz festival, and appearances in TV shows. During these years Leif started to study music in his own way; reading scores, listening to recordings and analyzing, not only classic choir music, but also sources like the Kings Singers, the Swingle Singers, the Singers Unlimited and the Hi-Lo’s. Several are the sleepless nights when Leif has been found hiding in the bathroom to read scores, or writing arrangements. This way of studying has continued to be a way of living, and when Leif, a few years later, were to meet Ward Swingle for the first time, this was a moment of confirmation of things already comprehended, more than a moment of learning, thus revealing the efficiency of this method. The Years in the South After graduating as Elementary School teachers (grades 4-6), Leif and Thory moved to Bålsta in the outskirts of Stockholm to take up teaching. Here they were two of the founding members in the octette known as “Octavox”. More important during this period was the connections to two choirs in Uppsala, the first being “Orphei Drängar”, the world famous male choir, where Leif could study its even more famous conductor Eric Ericson in action. The second choir was “Sacre Choeur” where it’s leader Ingemar Braennstroem recognized Leif’s excellent directing talent and soon made him the assistant director, thus sidestepping several choir members with better formal education in music. Other directors he had the opportunity to sing for during these years were Sixten Ehrling, Paavo Berglund, Norman Luboff, and Ward Swingle. Back to the roots In 1986 family reasons made Leif and Thory to move back to Skellefteå, where they still are teaching at elementary schools. They both joined the Skellefteå Chamber Choir as chorists. When, at one occation the following year, the current director due to a misunderstanding failed to show up on time for a short performance at a reception, Leif stepped in to help out in a delicate situation. At that moment the members of the choir understood that they had been part of a historic moment. Leifs natural directing abilities, together with all the experiences he had gathered during the years, now had matured to something unique. Shortly Leif became the lead director for the choir, and when, in 1990, his old friends in Kammarkören Sångkraft offered him the job as its director, he decided to commute to Umeå to manage this job too. Even though it might look like a big risk for ambitious choirs like Skellefteå Chamber Choir and Sångkraft to trust a director without formal education to be their pathfinder, the records show that the risk has payed off: Leif is, due to his considerable knowledge and his likeable way of performing, often requested as presentator at concerts, and as if all this would not be enough, Leif formed a boys choir in Skellefteå in 1995, which we, undoubtedly, will hear more about in a few years. —Ben Burstrom