Concerts

Kelly Poukens
Belgian soprano Kelly Poukens is a highly sought-after soloist on numerous national and international stages.

She has made a strong international impression with her performances in contemporary, acclaimed operas and has received multiple prizes, awards and nominations.

During the Queen Elisabeth Competition for Singing 2023, Kelly was praised by the press as “the most colourful candidate of the year”. Her story was featured in the podcast Queen Kelly, which was shortlisted for the Ultimas Audience Award and nominated for the Oorkondes Podcast Awards.

Jeroen Tilklin

Jeroen Tilkin (1979) is a creative centipede. He started studying the piano when he was eight. When he was twelve, he joined the children’s choir of the Flemish Opera, where he got a solo in the same year in the production ‘Toska’. Later he was asked as one of the youngest soloists ever in the Flemish Opera.

After his studies as a primary school teacher, he felt the desire to study music growing bigger and bigger. He started at the conservatory of Antwerp, where he first studied jazz-piano for two years. After that he obtained his masters degree as a jazz vocalist with great distinction. Since then, Jeroen has combined his two great passions: teaching others in, among other places, de! Kunsthumaniora as a vocal and piano instructor, contributing creatively to music and theatre productions, and lending his musical talent to groups such as Eddy et Les Vedettes, Nathalie Meskens, De Eilandverkaveling, and many others.

Yanou Vanermen

Yanou Verermen is a versatile musician who feels at home in a wide palette of musical styles. Ze plays the violin, viola, piano, clarinet and she is a singer, but above all, she is a passionate performer who loves to explore musical worlds. Her love for world music brought her to Rotterdam, where she studied Argentine tango and delved into the rich sounds and expressive style of this music.

She has a connection to classical music as close as with other music styles and she takes that wide colour palette with her in her daily life. As a musician, Yanou performed on stages at home and abroad with among others Bentivoglio (classical), Orquesta Típica Bélgica (tango), The Unlimited Strings (chanson/disco) and Scala & Kolacny Brothers.

Furthermore, Yanou is active as a coach, conductor and arranger. She collaborates with choirs, orchestras and ensembles, where she stimulates musicians to explore new styles and to push their boundaries though cross-over projects among others. She worked together with diverse international organisations, teached in Malawi and with El Sistema in El Salvador and was involved with educational conferences of The European Association for Music in Schools (EAS).

Yanou studied music pedagogy and violin at the Lemmensinstitute. Her education at Codarts Rotterdam with a focus on Argentine tango and minors in jazz/pop and orchestral conducting strengthened her diverse artistic profile.

Menno Buggenhout

Menno Buggenhout is a Belgian guitarist, composer, and musician, active in both classical music and the alternative and experimental pop and rock scene. He studied classical guitar under Roland Broux and Johan Fostier, and also took jazz guitar lessons with Hendrick Braeckman. In addition, he studied composition. He has written and contributed to several music theatre productions, and regularly composes and performs music for silent films.

As a classical guitarist, Buggenhout has built a strong reputation within the Four Aces Guitar Quartet, an ensemble active since 2008 with which he has performed across Europe, as well as in China and the United States.

Parallel to his classical career, Menno is active in several contemporary and alternative bands, including His Trust Fund, BIJT, and De Delvers, in which he primarily plays electric guitar.