Historical sources point to the earliest veneration of the Hanswijk Madonna in the 13th century. Although the statue was officially crowned with great ceremony on July 30, 1876, the Parish of Our Lady of Hanswijk chose the last day of May to commemorate 150 years of the Coronation with a Jubilee Concert. It turned out to be a magnificently varied concert for a packed Hanswijk Basilica.
Particularly delightful was the attention given to composers from our own region. It started with a spare yet direct 'Ave Maria' by Jacques Arcadelt and continued, via Jules Van Nuffel, Staf Nees, Paul Schollaert, Emile Wambach, and Michiel Verfaillie, toward a solemn finale: the best-known choral work by American Peter Christian Lutkin (1858-1931) and a calm, stylish antidote to the hustle and bustle surrounding us.
There was also the indispensable Brit John Rutter with a powerful 'God be in my head'. There was a surprising 'Carol of Joy' by Dan Forrest (b.1978) whose tinkling piano accompaniment by pianist Wieland Claes immediately caught the ear. Then a spirited 'Jubilate Deo' by Peter Anglea (b.1988, USA) and one by the versatile Australian Joseph Twist (b.1982), a nimble combination of all vocal ranges.
In terms of voices, Vokalis, the adult choir of the Our Lady choir, holds its own: a homogeneous sound, sufficient male voices, female voices that never sound shrill, even in the high notes.
Jeroen Keymeulen
Conductor Jeroen Keymeulen has much to do with that. His dedication and his gestures reveal it: this man is possessed by music. Armed with a master's diploma in classical guitar, chamber music, and orchestra conducting from the Lemmens Institute and the conviction that 'singing is something you do together,' he evolved from teaching to choral music. After 15 years, he moved from the Ghent choir Vivente Voce to Vokalis. In 2019, he became director of 'Koor&Stem', a non-profit that supports choirs, conductors, and singers. He clearly has his choir under control. Inadvertent eavesdropping during the subsequent reception revealed praise and enthusiasm from choir members for him. The understated elegance of their black and red attire was in keeping with the impression the choir left.
At the heart of the program stood the charming, typically Flemish work 'Ballad for Our Lady of Hanswijk'. The text is by organizer Fernand Veereth. The music by Eric De Vos, pianist, composer, arranger, and bandleader. The work dates back to 2009 and was part of the large-scale cultural city festival 'City Visions'. It couldn't have been entrusted to anyone better than guest star Connie Neefs, also in black and red, who charmed with her story about 'a girl of fifteen'. And for a moment, the basilica was 'the place where heaven touches the earth'.
Lodewijk De Vocht made the obvious 'Our Lady of Flanders' so direct and so accessible that even Cardinal De Kesel spontaneously joined in singing. If it's true that 'whoever believes learns to enjoy with open eyes,' we might as well add 'open ears' to that.
