The bridge builders (also in short: bridge builders ) were a gospel choir that grew out of the youth choir movement and was active throughout Germany from the 1970s to 1990s.
The choir was founded in 1976 by composer Klaus Heizmann after he had left the mission work Youth for Christ as a full-time musician and thus also given up the leadership of the Youth for Christ Choir . The bridge builders' self-titled debut album was released by Hänssler Music in 1981 and corresponds stylistically to the youth choir movement . With Heizmann's increasing commitment to his St. Goar Music Education Center, also founded in 1981, and the establishment of an in-house studio choir, Bertold Engel took over the choir management of the bridge builders in 1983 . Under his direction, the choir developed into a supra-regional gospel formation with members from Düsseldorf to Zurich of the most diverse denominations. The repertoire consisted not only of cover versions by American artists, but above all of Bertold Engel's own English and German gospels. Until the 1990s, the choir performed successfully with this concept in churches, concert halls and jazz clubs.
↑ Heizmann, Hella: If only I had learned something decent! Coprint, Wiesbaden, 1989, ISBN 3-417-20837-8
↑ Wilson-Dickson, Andrew; Heizmann, Klaus: Sacred Music: Its Great Traditions - From Singing Psalms to Gospel. Brunnen Verlag , Giessen, 1994, ISBN 3-7655-6339-0
