Conductors

Paul Valk

Paul Valk has been conductor of the Nederlandse Händelvereniging since 2021. He studied organ, choral conducting, and church music in Utrecht at the Conservatory and at the Netherlands Institute for Church Music. In addition, he specialised in piano, voice, and orchestral conducting. He currently conducts several choirs, including the Amsterdams Gemengd Koor, Soli Amersfoort, Sine Nomine Alkmaar, and the vocal ensemble Octagon Utrecht.

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Rick Muselaers

Rick Muselaers has been conductor of the Nederlandse Händelvereniging since 2026. Born in 1986, he studied Music Education, Choral Conducting, and Orchestral Conducting at the Fontys Conservatorium under Louis Buskens (choral conducting) and Arjan Tien (orchestral conducting). He continued his studies with Martin Wright in both the Netherlands and the United States. He is artistic director and conductor of several ensembles, including Koorschool Haarlem, Kamerkoor Tourdion, the Sint-Laurentius Choir, women’s choir Dal Cuore, and Kamerkoor Zuid.

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With Paul Valk and Rick Muselaers, we have two inspiring conductors whose strengths complement one another in the various aspects of musicianship, vocal technique, and harmony. Together, they provide the energy, discipline, and artistic depth the choir needs to perform major choral works at the highest level.

 

(Jan van Berkel, Chairman of the Dutch Handel Society)

 

 

Guest conductors

Since its foundation until 2016, the Dutch Handel Society had only three principal conductors: founder Jack P. Loorij (1942–1987), Thijs Kramer (1989–2011), and Andrew Wise (2011–2016).

Since 2017, the Nederlandse Händelvereniging has regularly collaborated with guest conductors.

The current conductors, Paul Valk and Rick Muselaers, previously appeared with the choir as guest conductors.

Below, we highlight some of our recent guest conductors.

Ed Spanjaard

Ed Spanjaard

Dirigent en pianist Ed Spanjaard is een unieke persoonlijkheid in het huidige klassieke muzieklandschap van…
Klaas Stok

Klaas Stok

Klaas Stok is als dirigent werkzaam bij verschillende professionele koren in Nederland en Duitsland. Sinds…
Boudewijn Jansen

Boudewijn Jansen

Boudewijn Jansen is een dirigent met een breed repertoire met focus op opera en oratorium.  Na…

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