Welcome to the Pauluskoor (Paulus Choir)

About us
Unlike the name suggests, we are not a church choir, although we did start as such in 1938 in the then just built Pauluskerk (Paulus church) in Amstelveen. The Pauluskoor in 2023 is a lively, independent choir that has around 90 members (some 65 sopranos and alts and 25 tenors and basses). On average we organise about 3 concerts in 2 years, performing choral works from the seventeenth to the twentieth century, where the aim is to perform Bach’s St. Matthew Passion once every 3 years or so (look HERE for our repertoire).

Rehearsals
We rehearse every Monday evening from 20.00 to 22.15 hr in the Paaskerk, Augustinuspark 1 in Amstelveen, under the inspiring leadership of conductor Marcel Joosen, accompanied by Charlie Bo Meijering on the grand piano . The atmosphere during rehearsals is both serious and relaxed.


Join us
Do you like classical music, do you think it would be great to sing with a large choir yourself, but do you think that is not feasible for you? Just like we did, cross that threshold and come for a visit (no obligations) to one of our rehearsals. You don’t have to have any choir experience. Some people who could barely read music and had no choral experience have been members for years. If you like it, you could soon be on stage with us at one of our upcoming concerts.The choir contribution is € 300,- per year (€ 75,- per 3 months) excluding music books. The music books cost around € 15 euros each.
If you have decided to become a member, the conductor will first perform a short (private) vocal test in which you sing a few vocal exercises so that the conductor can determine which vocal type suits you best. Do not be put off by this, your voice really does not have to be of soloist quality to become a member of our choir.

Do you have to speak Dutch to become a member?
Obviously, rehearsals are in Dutch, and a basic understanding of the language will of course be helpful. However, we can arrange that you are in between English speaking choir members who can, for instance, point out what our conductor means when he says “we beginnen bij maat achttien” (we start at bar eighteen). And, who knows, maybe joining us gives you the motivation to improve and practice your Dutch!

Do you want more information or do you want to make an appointment to attend a rehearsal?
Please contact our secretariat (José Geijsel-Kolk) : Email: secretariaat.pauluskoor@gmail.com
Tel: 06 24509535) , tel. 06 30377437