Jolanda Janssen-Sengers

Great to sing with my daughter in the Groot Omroepkoor'.

Jolanda Sengers is soprano in the Groot Omroepkoor. She has been with the GOK for over thirty years. The choir is her life; singing together is very important. "And that applies to many people who express themselves through music. They sing in a choir and enjoy concerts. How many choir singers are there in the Netherlands? That is more than football players! Music - as an art form - should be cherished as a country!

Songs or children's choir
"My father composed children's songs with small Orff instruments. We sang, he played the piano." In the second class of primary school Jolanda starts singing in the school choir. It was very special because she was allowed to sing with the big girls. "Because of the nerves I forgot the lyrics!" Of course, she also sings with the children's choir of the Catholic Church. "Singing at midnight mass at Christmas was very special." In the sixth grade, she sings the lead in the musical Meester Pennelik. She is so nervous that she can barely sing. Her first solo career came about through trial and error.

School and conservatoire
When she was fourteen, she took lessons from Carla Franssen, who taught her a lot of enthusiasm for singing. But what was she going to do after secondary school? She did not go to the conservatoire: "I thought I was not good enough. She becomes a teacher of handicrafts. But she always kept singing lessons and sang in a choir. She wanted to continue with solo singing anyway and passed the music theory exam in two years. At 26, she did an audition for the Groot Omroepkoor and was accepted. She then went on to study solo singing at the Arnhem Conservatory, where she was taught by Wout Oosterkamp and others. "At my final exam, I sang songs that my father had composed. Meanwhile, daughter Charlotte and son Florian were born.

Choir and home
"Your life is at the service of the choir," says Jolanda Sengers. "You're a small part of the whole, and you have to want that when you sing in a choir. You're always very close together." Almost every weekend she does concerts. When the children are small, she still lives in Brabant and travels back and forth to Hilversum. The division of tasks at home is quite complex. Her husband looks after the children at the weekend. "That is very pleasant, but also necessary. Without good support from the home front, you can't do this job."

Chairman of the Choral Commission
"How many choir singers does the Netherlands have? That's more than footballers! The Groot Omroepkoor is the only symphonic professional choir in the Netherlands: we set an example for amateur choirs." Sengers: "'Music has an emotional, social and intellectual aspect. Music education is important for children and young people, but also for adults. Music brings people together." As chairwoman of the choir committee she propagates these ideas.

Together with daughter
"My daughter is exactly thirty years younger than I am. We both work as professionals in the choir. That has never happened before in the history of the choir! A mother and daughter working so closely together... I am a mother and a colleague. This double role was a bit tricky at first. How do you do that? My colleagues sometimes corrected me: 'She can do that very well herself'. I listened carefully to that. I have gained the confidence that my daughter is a fully-fledged colleague. As a singer you focus your personal life on the music. I notice that it is my life's fulfilment, but also that of my daughter. That is very special."