Last year, the Saint-Catharinadal priory of the Norbertinessen sisters celebrated its 750th anniversary. The sisters have continuously formed a monastic community during all these years. This anniversary will also be celebrated culturally. Music has always been closely linked to the sisters’ religious experience.

The priory has asked Daan Manneke to compose a choral work especially and exclusively for this anniversary; it has become a work for a mixed choir under the name De Wijngaard; the texts are taken from the Bible, especially the books of Jeremiah and the Song of Songs. The work is linked by name to the vineyard developed by the sisters a few years ago. The composition will premiere in the church of Sint-Catharinadal on Saturday November 19, 2022 (on Sunday November 20, 2022 the concert will take place again in the Grote Kerk Breda). The choice for the other choral works during the concert was inspired by the spiritual ideas of the sisters. The priory also found residence in Breda for several years.

The concert will be performed by the choir Musa Horti from Leuven, conducted by Peter Dejans. The choir – founded in 1989 – is affiliated with the abbey of the Norbertijnen van ‘t Park in Heverlee and is known in Flanders for its high quality in terms of both programming and performance. Their performance in the St. Paulusabdij in Oosterhout in 2019, in celebration of Daan Manneke’s 80th birthday, received an honorable 4th place within top ten of cultural highlights in North Brabant.