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The Belgium conductor, Mannu Wuyts, began his musical journey at the age of 6. He first chooses the piano, then also the guitar. His love for music was born. At the age of 9 he was given the opportunity to sing as a boy in the Baroque ensemble Consortium Marsyas. In the twenty years that followed, he discovered the pearls of early music one by one: from J.S. Bach's Matthäus-Passion BWV 244 and W.A. Mozart's Requiem to George Frideric Handel's Messiah. At the Flanders Festival he sang works by J.S. Bach and Antonio Vivaldii as a baritone soloist. He obtained his Master degree in Communication Sciences from the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (1997-2002); and studied also viola da gamba & historical keyboard at the Centrum voor muziekinstrumentenbouw (2004-2011).
But Mannu Wuyts wants more. Conducting in particular. He took his first steps as a conductor at the age of 17 with the Jongerenkoor in Wijnegem, where he performed various music genres with young people. In April 1997, he founded the Muzikaal Ensemble Alegría. His goal? To bring together lovers of Baroque music. In 2004 he took part in a training project for conductors with, among others, Ivo Venkov. In 2008 he specialized in Baroque cantatas with Michael Scheck as a conductor. In 2019 he went all out for the international Kurt Thomas course for conductors at the Conservatorium van Utrecht. There he worked with Jos van Veldhoven and Mikhail Zemstov, among others.
Mannu Wuyts also takes making music literally. That is why he is following vocational training in musical instrument construction. He builds a viola da gamba and a spinet (related to the harpsichord) after an instrument from 1767 by J.H. Silbermann. He later designed and built his own chest organ, inspired by Baroque examples. His spinet and chest organ are given a place on the concert stage with Muzikaal Ensemble Alegría, as continuo instruments.
Mannu Wuyts has been lecturer of sociology & media studies at Plantijn Hogeschool (2008-2009); Senior HR consultant - trainer at Quintessence (September 2011-January 2012); teacher of cultural and behavioral sciences at Annuntia-instituut (since October 1984). |
