During the lockdowns, I recorded vocals for a project by Vivienne Aerts which was built around empowering women and sustainability. The album, “Typuhthâng,” was produced in collaboration with Original Beans Chocolate, and the aim was to empower the female cacao farmers of Virunga State Park in Congo and replant the rainforest while raising awareness of the plight of women and nature in the Congo.

As well as original songs, the album includes soundscapes from the Congo. It’s exciting and fresh, and I believe best enjoyed while savouring some Original Beans Chocolate.

After the project, Vivienne interviewed the collaborators. You can find my interview here:

Spotify – https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/vivienne-aerts

Apple Podcast – https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/vivitalks/id1728118735

Pianist Lieselotte van Tol and I are delighted to announce a new programme for 2024, based on the music performed by twenty-first century contraltos including Aafje Heynis and Kathleen Ferrier.

It includes well-known arias by Handel and Gluck, folksongs from the British Isles, and works that seem to be performed less often these days such as “The Holy City” and “The Lost Chord.”

We have our first concert at a private venue in Rotterdam tomorrow.

The penultimate concert of the year brought a pleasant surprise: a collaboration with Macedonian violinist Robert Cekov. Robert leads the Dutch national ballet orchestra and had to hurry to Amsterdam after our concert. He stood in for baritone Piet Baarssen, who suddenly and uncharacteristically was unwell. We performed a programme of mostly Dutch Christmas music, together with some favourites such as the “Ave Maria” attributed to Caccini (which was actually written in the 1970s by Vladimir Vavilov), and of course “O Holy Night.”

I have one more recital to go before the new year: Lieselotte and I are performing in Rotterdam for a private occasion.

Highlights for 2023 include singing Karl Jenkins’s “Stabat Mater” in Amsterdam, various concerts and ceremonies in France including for the eightieth anniversary of D-Day, and some exciting events further afield…

I wish you a wonderful Christmas and a happy and healthy new year.

On 16th December I’ll be joining the internationally-acclaimed baritone Piet Baarssen and organist Dub de Vries to sing a mostly Dutch Christmas programme in the Orgelzaal Booy in Alkmaar, the Netherlands. I’m really looking forward to this programme!

For more information (in Dutch), please visit this webpage.

Every year, on the second Sunday of December, candles are lit across the world to remember children during “Worldwide Candle-Lighting Day.” In Leiden, Xenia, our children’s hospice, hosts a ceremony for all those who wish to take a moment to reflect and remember. It’s a beautiful ceremony, and it’s an honour to sing in such a moving and important event.

I’m excited to be singing in the Leiden Christmas Tattoo this year, along with four orchestras, and Marnie Baumer and Nataliia Cioban. The tattoo is on Saturday, 9th December on the square at the west end of the historic Pieterskerk, the church in which Pilgrim Father Rev. John Robinson is buried.

For tickets and information (in Dutch), please visit this webpage.