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The Brussels Chamber Choir (= BCC) was founded in 2007 by Helen Cassano and a group of fellow students of the Royal Conservatoire of Music in Brussels. The choir specialises in the a cappella repertoire, and performs its own inventive programmes across Brussels, often premièring new or forgotten music. Major choral works are also often on the programme, such as George Frideric Handel's Messiah, the Requiems of Gabriel Fauré, Maurice Duruflé and Herbert Howells, J.S. Bach's Weihnachts-Oratorium BWV 248, Magnificat in D major BWV 243, Matthäus-Passion BWV 244 and Johannes-Passion BWV 245; Gustav Holst's The Planets and Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 2.
The BCC is a regular guest at the Brussels Cathedral, the Notre-Dame du Sacré-Coeur church in Etterbeek and BOZAR. Its partners on stage have included the Belgian National Orchestra, the New Baroque Times orchestra, the Period Instruments Orchestra of the Conservatoire, Ensemble Sarband, Brussels Philharmonic Orchestra and composers Eric Whitacre and Bob Chilcott. Since its creation, the choir has been led by British-Spanish-Belgian conductor Helen Cassano. Guest conductors have included Paul Dombrecht, Sigiswald Kuijken, Paul Agnew, Philippe Pierlot, Hugh Wolff and Thomas Adès.
To marks its 10th anniversary in 2017, the choir released its first professional album, ‘Made in Belgium: New Belgian Choral Music’, which received a 4-star rating from Diapason magazine in France. The choir also appears in Alan Charlton’s album ‘Cloud and Mirrors’, released in October 2019. Tracks from both recordings have been broadcast on Klara and on BBC Radio 3.
The BCC won a third prize at the International Competition of Flanders 2011 in Maasmechelen, and the prize for best repertoire at the 2019 edition of the CantaRode Festival in Kerkrade, The Netherlands. In October 2024, the BCC returned to the International Competition of Flanders, now in Genk, and obtained the prizes for best programme, best performance of the compulsory work, best unaccompanied folk-song, best choir in the mixed choirs category and with a score of 91%, best choir of the competition. |
