On Sunday 23 June, Sing Out Brussels! took part in an inspiring event organised by Bozar to mark ten years of bringing together choirs and other singers from all over the capital.
For the past decade, Bozar has organised Singing Brussels, an annual project aiming to get Brussels singing. A variety of activities are organised involving various amateur choirs as well as the general public, using singing to bring people together across generations, genders, and ethnic/cultural identities.
Sing Out Brussels! previously took part in 2019 and this year participated in Let’s Zing Ensemble, an event celebrating ten successful years of the original project. To mark the occasion, ten composers with links to Brussels, but representing various generations and styles, were asked to create a piece inspired by the city. The SATB scores of the ten songs are freely available to the public on the Bozar website, alongside recordings by our conductor Emily Allison and other members of the Brussels Vocal Project.
Each choir worked on a selection of the new pieces, with Sing Out Brussels! choosing Poppies in The Sky by Judith Kiddo and Peace of Mind by Nicolas Michaux. The Brussels Vocal Project also ran a series of public workshops for individual singers wishing to take part, forming a scratch choir that sang alongside the 15 participating amateur choirs at the closing concert. The final event took place as part of a full day of events during the Fête de la Musique in Bozar’s Salle Henri Le Bœuf, offering Sing Out a taste of what it will be like to take to this renowned stage when the choir hosts Various Voices, the European LGBTQI+ choir festival, in 2026. The concert was accompanied by an orchestra made up of the Young Belgian Strings as well as members of the Belgian National Orchestra and the Orchestra Academy, making for a truly magical atmosphere.
Earlier in the day, a choir trail offered the audience an opportunity to hear each of the participating amateur choirs performing their usual repertoire. As it was such a beautiful summer’s day, Sing Out performed a 30-minute set outside Bozar on the Rue Baron Horta.
Watch the aftermovie here