Music factory

Every volunteer organization is dependent on enthusiastic individuals who are passionate about their cause and inspire others to participate.  The same is true for BCC.  A diverse church benefits from a variety of skills, and in the Bergen area, several people have lifted musical quality and artistry to another level.


By Johanne Reiersrud – Photos by Randi Hutt / Seasound

Dag Helge Bernhardsen (41) has worked with music in the church for more than 20 years.  He manages his own business by day, but spends his free time doing what he is most passionate about: music production and mentoring for the group Seasound.

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Dag Helge Bernhardsen

Seasound, which was started about 10 years ago, is located on Sotra outside of Bergen and has its origins in the local church here. It meets weekly and gives young people with an interest in music an opportunity to participate during their free time. The group is also responsible for some impressive musical productions that many members of BCC at home and abroad have enjoyed.

Enthusiastic and talented

Dag Helge Bernhardsen is a multitalented musician. He began producing and arranging music when he received his first electronic piano 33 years ago.

“I have never viewed myself as a musician, but I have always worked with music, and used it to express a message I personally believe in,” he says. “I was more interested in music than in soccer, and it was kind of my thing early on.”

Even though he does not consider himself a musician, his musical abilities have brought him small musical projects on a professional basis. His singing voice has made him a sought-after vocalist, and his proficiency on the piano is far above that of a hobby musician.

His foremost project, together with several other people, is creating a catalog of material for a web-based music portal, which for the past 10 years has been accessible for all members of BCC worldwide.

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<em>Weekly recordings in the sound studio </em><em>provide an ever-increasing musical repertoire.  Photo: Seasound</em></p>
<h3>Music production brings joy to many</h3>
<p>The church’s own songbook – <em>Ways of the Lord</em> – contains 472 songs about faith, hope, and power for living an active Christian life. Many of these songs are still relevant, despite being written many years ago. Almost every week new arrangements of songs with the church’s message are uploaded to the music portal along with daily podcasts, updates, and faith-strengthening messages from all of BCC’s conferences from the past decade, and archived material going back several years.</p>
<blockquote><p>“I have never viewed myself as a musician, but I have always worked with music, and used it to express a message I personally believe in”</p></blockquote>
<h3>New studio brings new possibilities</h3>
<p>Updating the music and renewing arrangements of the church songs began in earnest around 14 years ago, when the church in Bergen built a professional music studio for developing and producing new music. According to Dag Helge, before the studio was completed, a few individuals would record in a homemade studio in his house. They then copied and distributed burned CDs of their music.</p>
<p>With the new studio and several new musicians, their capacity expanded, and they were asked to record songs for BCC’s literature and media portal.</p>
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