Those of you who are new to Brussels or who are joining Carols for Christmas! for the first time may be wondering how such an enterprise first got off the ground. Well, the history of English-language carol concerts in Brussels goes back to April 1975, Hilary Thompson M.B.E. and her late husband, Derek, founded The Society for Suppressed Songsters that year for a performance of The Messiah from Scratch and followed it up in December with the very first carol concert at the Brussels Conservatoire.
They continued the good work for 21 years, moving to a larger venue in the Palais des Beaux Arts, founding the Brussels Choral Society and, most important, raising money for charity along the way. Eventually however, after retiring to Normandy and travelling back to Brussels during the autumn months for several years to rehearse the Suppressed Songsters, they finally decided to retire from the Suppressed Songsters too.
Many people for whom the annual concert had become a tradition, especially those who had been involved since the early years, were saddened at the thought osuch an institution disappearing and thus it was that a small group of people came together in 1996 to form Carols for Christmas!
Like The Society for Suppressed Songsters, Carols for Christmas! also strives to raise money for a variety of charities while providing good, clean, fun for choir and audience alike. If you join the choir and production teams we can promise you some hard work along the way, from learning the more difficult pieces to moving chairs and sweeping up at the Palais des Beaux-Arts, but we can also promise you that performing to a packed audience including your family and friends in the Palais des Beaux Arts or just enjoying the concert will be an unforgettable experience and all the more worthwhile because of the charities you are supporting.
