The Laurenscantorij is rooted in the heart of Rotterdam—the Laurenskerk. Eager and ambitious, this semi-professional ensemble performs choral music from all stylistic periods, not only in the Laurenskerk but also far beyond. The talented members, including many young singers, have been led since 2005 by Wiecher Mandemaker, the artistic director of Laurens Vocaal.
Each month, the Laurenscantorij presents a cantata service in the Laurenskerk, most often featuring music by Bach. Once a year, the choir performs the St Matthew Passion in the setting of a church service, just as it was once done in Bach’s Thomaskirche. This allows everyone, regardless of social background, to experience Bach’s music. The tradition of these cantata services was initiated in 1966 by the then artistic director, Barend Schuurman. The young and enterprising singers also bring Bach to the streets with a unique Laurenscantorij creation: the Bachfiets (“Bach bike”). This cargo bike can be spotted at special events in downtown Rotterdam.
The choir regularly collaborates in productions with professional orchestras in the Netherlands and abroad. Concert hall De Doelen is an important partner in this. With the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, the choir performed Jeanne d’Arc au bûcher by Arthur Honegger in 2018. The Laurenscantorij has also sung major British works for choir and orchestra: The Dream of Gerontius by Edward Elgar with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra in 2018, War Requiem by Benjamin Britten with the Bochumer Symphoniker in 2017, Hymnus Paradisi by Herbert Howells with the BBC Symphony Orchestra in 2015, A Sea Symphony by Vaughan Williams with the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra in 2014, and the musically complex Spring Symphony by Benjamin Britten with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra in 2013. These concerts can be listened to on the websites of Radio 4 and BBC Radio 3, or ordered via the webshop.
Of special value is the close collaboration with organist Hayo Boerema. As a result, works for choir and organ hold a permanent place in the Laurenscantorij’s own concert programming. The choir also actively encourages the development of new choral music. One of the highlights in this regard was the world premiere of four Choruses from John Adams’ The Death of Klinghoffer, arranged by Bob Zimmerman. The Laurenscantorij has undertaken many concert tours abroad, including trips to Istanbul in 2014 and Lübeck in 2016.
Several of the Laurenscantorij’s recordings are available on streaming services such as Spotify, including Solennelle (2019), featuring the Messe Solennelle by Hayo Boerema and De Profundis by Marcel Dupré: “In both works, choir, soloists, and instrumentalists show great mastery” (Nederlands Dagblad). In 2011, the choir recorded the complete works of Maurice Duruflé: “Music to listen to endlessly” (Elsevier), and “In the version with organ, the Requiem flows into the ear like honey” (de Volkskrant). In October 2012, the label Glossa released the complete symphonies of Beethoven, performed by the Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century under Frans Brüggen, featuring the choir in the Ninth Symphony.