On Sunday afternoon, psalms from all corners of the world resonated through the beautiful wooden choir section of Sint-Romboutskathedraal. This has been a tradition for several years in the lead-up to Easter. And, as usual, the vocal ensemble 'À Choeur Joie' was called upon—some twenty well-trained singers. They are led by Karen Marie Van Humbeeck, herself a singer, who is studying conducting at the Lemmensinstituut under Kurt Bikkembergs. Musical accompaniment was provided by Tom Van Hole on piano, Stefan Willems on violin, Emily Van Asch on guitar, Goedele De Nolf on oboe, and Daan Kolpa on drums.

The entire concert was steeped in an atmosphere of restrained conviction and musical depth without frills.

Under the motto 'O gladsome light', a composition from the 16th-century Geneva psalter by Louis (Loyis) Bourgeois, it became a soothing immersion in languages and cultures from around the world. The opening number also centered on Light: for 'Lamp-Lighting Psalms', Benedict Sheehan—conductor, composer, arranger, and leading figure in Orthodox choral music in the US—drew upon the vespers of the Byzantine rite. Also from the Byzantine rite came the beautiful authentic Marian prayer 'Bogoroditse Dievo' and 'Trisagion', a series of three invocations repeated three times.

From Byzantium, the journey continued to the French ecumenical community Taizé with Jacques Berthier's 'Dans nos obscurités' (1923-1994). Arvo Pärt ('Vater unser'), Charles Purday (Scotland, 1799-1885), poet-theologian Huub Oosterhuis, Marco Frisina (b.1954), Eriks Esenvalds (b.1977), and even Jean Sibelius ('Be still, my soul') were all part of the program.

The standout among all this solemnity was the setting that Norwegian composer-pianist Ola Gjeilo (b.1978) created of the Latin text from Solomon's 'Song of Songs', 'Tota Pulchra es', which he renamed 'Northern Lights'.
Not by chance the encore for the approximately 300 listeners, who enthusiastically thanked the ensemble 'À Choeur Joie' with great delight.