Waelrant Youth Choir (Borgerhout-Antwerp-Belgium) was founded in 1968 and has been led by Marleen De Boo since 1995.
The Mixed Youth Choir consists of 80 singers aged between 14 and 26 and is part of the VZW Waelrantkoren. This Borgerhout choir family comprises eight choirs, the youngest singer is 4 years old, the oldest over 80.
The Waelrant Youth Choir already participated with excellent results in various festivals and competitions at home and abroad.
In recent summers, they participated in choir competitions in Gorizia-Italy (2009), Bratislava- Slovakia (2011), Bydgoszcz-Poland (2014), Wernigerode-Germany (2017), Tschwane-South Africa (2018), Gothenburg-Sweden (2019). They also performed at festivals in France, Briançon (2012 and 2015) and Choralies-Vaison la Romaine (2013-2016-2022). In November 2021, at the World Choir Games Flanders, they won both categories in which they competed, reaching 15th place in the Interkultur World Choir Rankings. In May 2023, they were guests at the highly regarded EFJC in Basel-Switzerland. At the European Choir Games in Norrköping, Sweden autumn 2023, they became category winner in the Youth Choir Series.
Although the Waelrant Youth Choir has already successfully participated in several national and international choir competitions, it is first and foremost a warm group of young people. One of the unique features of the youth choir is that they deliver high quality, without requiring new members to audition. The choir is open to anyone who wants to fully engage, but the welcoming group dynamic and powerful atmosphere in which everyone encourages each other to be who they are allows each individual member to shine and grow. You feel this when you see the youth choir perform. The togetherness translates into a homogeneous sound, the friendship is visible in the authentic smiles on the faces of the choir members, the openness within the group is reflected in their expressive and emotional performances, and the personal involvement of each individual singer creates a powerful and strong communication between the choir and the audience.
The Waelrant Youth Choir enjoys singing many different genres and often surprises with a varied programme. Their open mind and curious nature helps them discover and appreciate music from Renaissance to the present, from Asia to Africa, from classical to folk and pop,....
Hubertus Waelrant (c. 1517 - 1595) was a Flemish composer, teacher and music publisher who lived and worked in Antwerp for most of his life. He was buried in Antwerp Cathedral.
Marleen De Boo holds a Master's degree in both Music Pedagogy and Choral Conducting. She teaches choral conducting at the Koninklijk Conservatorium Antwerpen and is also active at the Podiumacademie Lier where she teaches choral conducting to amateurs, semi-professionals and professionals; one of these courses focuses specifically on working with children.
Marleen regularly leads workshops in Flanders and is also in great demand internationally as a jury member and coach.She is artistic leader of the VZW Waelrantkoren, where she is responsible for five of the eight choirs. The pedagogical dimension of choral singing is central to this: Marleen's main motivation is to help amateurs, especially children and young people, discover the beauty of choral music.