In the Klokgebouw in Eindhoven, twelve hundred people gathered on Sunday afternoon to study a song and sing together as one choir. It was an attempt at a Dutch record, because that does not yet exist.
It is an XL version of the pop-up choir of the ‘Eindhovens Popkoor’ (pop choir). Everyone is welcome at this pop-up choir, whether you can sing or not. In 2.5 hours, the audience practiced the song ‘I still haven’t found what I’m looking for’ by U2.
“We are very proud of this. We just want everyone to experience how nice it is to sing,” says Ruud van Deventer, one of the organizers. “We get happy from singing. It is good for your mood, it is good for your body and limbs and that is also what we want to radiate from the beginning. I think we have proven that here this afternoon.”
Amateurs and experts
It is a mix of qualities in the Klokgebouw. Many people are already familiar with choir singing, because they are in one of the various choirs of the Eindhoven Popkoor.
A young lady came to the Klokgebouw with a friend. “Whether I can sing well, that depends on who you ask,” she says, laughing. “I certainly can’t. I mainly sing in the car and in the shower,” her friend responds.
Singing with such a large group is a beautiful experience in any case. “It feels very magical,” says another participant. “You feel it through your whole body. It is very beautiful.”
“A lot of people came because it was fun, but they didn’t really want to sing – they all sang in the end,” says a choir member. According to Van Deventer, that is also the beauty of the gathering.
“People who have to come along and then come in with a grumpy head. At the end of the evening, they still sing along, and he goes home in a good mood. I just think that’s nice.” He also hopes that people keep singing.
Record attempt
The singing together was an attempt to get the record for the largest pop-up choir in the Netherlands. But there are no official records for that yet. The world record is still a lot higher. That doesn’t matter to Van Deventer.
“We were here with almost twelve hundred people for the first edition. That is our record anyway. The world record is 121,000, but that was unison singing. That is not a choir at all. So, I claimed the world record here today. I don’t give a damn,” he laughs.
What he also finds a great experience is that the Popkoor has been around for ten years this year. For the first time, they are performing in the Klokgebouw. The pop-up choir is an initiative of singing school SingShop, which Ruud van Deventer founded. They have been around for fifteen years today.
Source: Studio040.nl
Translated by Yawar Abbas
