Conductor

Godfried Van de Vyvere did his higher music studies at the Lemmens Institute (now LUCA School of Arts) in Leuven. There he obtained the Laureate diploma in music pedagogy, the Laureate diplomas in music pedagogy, singing, choral conducting and the Master’s degree in singing. He also took private lessons with Lucienne Van Deyck.

As a singer, he performed the alto solos in works by Handel, Purcell, Vivaldi, Charpentier, Fiocco and others. In the Mozart year 1991, he performed the role of Zephyrus in Mozart’s opera Apollo and Hyacinthus. He sang in ensembles such as Close-up and Capilla Flamenca. For almost two decades, he was active in early music as an alto with the Huelgas Ensemble and Currende. With these ensembles, he sang virtually all over Europe and in Israel, and collaborated on numerous CD recordings. He had the good fortune to sing under conductors Paul Van Nevel, Philippe Herreweghe, Jos Van Immerseel, Sigiswald Kuijken, René Jacobs, Erik Van Nevel and Patrick Peire.

Since 1982, he has been conductor of the mixed choir Acantus from Beveren. From 1983 to 1985 he was conductor of the boys’ choir In Dulci Jubilo from Sint-Niklaas, whose list of achievements includes the recording of Bach’s St Matthew Passion conducted by Philippe Herreweghe, and the film music in Hugo Claus’ De Leeuw van Vlaanderen.

As guest conductor, he performed with La Furia (Antwerp), led a choir week in Poland with the Lublin chamber choir In Corpore, and conducted a Bach programme with In Corpore and the Warsaw baroque orchestra Concerto Avenna, in the historic centre of Lublin.

From 1998 to 2015 he was conductor of the girls’ choir Gynaika from Sint-Niklaas, with which he won the premier league for the province of East Flanders five times in a row. Gynaika was a finalist and laureate in the youth choir category of the ‘Choir of the Year’ competition.

He prepared a mega-choir of eleven Sint-Niklaas choirs in the successful production “Freedom”, in Antwerp (deSingel) and Sint-Niklaas.

Since 2011, he has also been conductor of the chamber choir Terpander, with which he has performed Messiah (Handel), Johannespassion (Bach), Die Schöpfung (Haydn), and many other tasteful programmes, among others.

He was an employee of the choral federation Koor&Stem as a conductor, as a choral coach and as a teacher for choral workshops. He conducted the choir project ‘Zingen tot morgenvroeg’ all over Flanders, together with the group Ishtar.

For Davidsfonds Cultuurreizen, he accompanied 15 trips to the Spring Festival in Budapest and the International Haydntage in Eisenstadt.

Godfried Van de Vyvere teaches singing, voice formation and conducting at LUCA School of Arts, campus Lemmens, in Leuven, and singing, vocal ensemble and choir at d’Academie Podium in Sint-Niklaas.