Netherlands

The Netherlands Chamber Choir celebrated its 65th Anniversary in November 2001 when it last toured the United States. That tour included the Midwestern, Southern and Eastern states. The Choir's next U.S. tour is now scheduled for November of 2005 with Ed Spanjaard conducting.
           The choir was founded by Felix de Nobel, the legendary conductor and pianist, and its singers number twenty-four. Both the choir and its conductor collaborate for one purpose: to make choral singing of the highest level.
           Most professional choirs are associated with an opera house, orchestra or, in Europe, a radio network. The Netherlands Chamber Choir is an independent group whose mission it is to offer the listener an incredibly rich and diverse repertoire for a cappella choir. This mission has led to the choir's development of a standard of performance that has brought it overwhelming acclaim throughout the world.
           Regularly appearing with the choir are conductors who specialize in a particular musical style or period such as Paul van Nevel, Frans Bruggen. Eric Ericson, John Alldis, Reinbert de Leeuw and René Jacobs. The choir can move effortlessly from Medieval music to modern compositions. Illustrious composers such as Poulenc, Kodaly, Heppener, Andriessen have dedicated works especially to the Netherlands Chamber Choir.
            In addition to its a cappella concerts, the choir often appears with world-famous orchestras such as the Royal Concertgebouw, the Orchestra of the 18th Century and the Schonberg Ensemble. Besides numerous recordings for radio and television, the choir has over 30 CDs to its credit, many of which have received major press awards in Europe and North America.
           Touring is a part of the choir's yearly schedule and includes cities throughout Europe as well as visits to Canada, Israel and Japan on a regular basis. In 1993 the Netherlands Chamber Choir created a sensation at the American Choral Director's Association Conference in San Antonio.