Biography of Bea van der Kaaij

Born in the Netherlands, in 1966, Bea van der Kaaij was interested in choral music from an early age. At the age of 6 she joined the local church choir and from then on she was hooked on music.
This great love for music broadened out during her years at secondary school where she joined the school choir and sang music from a wide range of styles. At Utrecht University she initially read Dutch literature and language, but her attraction to music remained, so after one year she transferred to Musicology. In 1992 she graduated.

Immediately after finishing her studies she was asked to lead a local church choir in Veenendaal. After moving to the west of the country, Bea conducted several choirs in the The Hague area. In the meantime she undertook extra training for choral conducting, which led to a further qualification. From 2000 onwards, conducting choirs has been Bea's main occupation.
Apart from conducting, Bea also became involved in organising tours for choirs and organists.

In 2006, a deep love for Anglican Church music led her to apply for the vacancy of Choirmaster at All Saints Church in Leamington Spa and she was delighted that she had the opportunity to step into the amazing choral tradition in this beautiful church. Moving to England was a big step, but Bea and her family very much enjoy living in England. In November 2007, Bea took over as Musical Director of the Village Voices Choir, also based in Leamington Spa.

On arrival in Lincoln in the summer of 2008, Bea became Musical Director of Skellingthorpe Village Choir. In January 2009, she began her role as Musical Director of Lincoln Orpheus Male Voice Choir. In 2009 Bea's family moved house once more to Glentworth, a village in rural Lincolnshire. She started up a church- and community choir there, The Cliffside Singers and became Community Tutor Music at Robert Pattison School in North Hykenham, where she started an evening class 'The Joy of Singing' for people, who have little experience in singing, but would like to give it a go. In January 2011 Bea has taken up the post of Director of Music at All Sainsts Parish Church in Nettleham, a beautiful village just north-east of Lincoln. She has started up a junior choir there in addition to the SATB choir. The choir is growing from strength to strength. Since January 2012 Bea has become Musical Director of the CABRA Singers, a very capable mixed choir based in Hackthorn. She therefore had to say goodbye to Skellingthorpe Village Choir after 3,5 years.

Now, being settled in Lincolnshire, Bea sees the opportunity to realise an idea that she conceived a long time ago: organising and leading choral workshops for companies and organizations to reduce stress, to be active as a group in a different, fun way, to discover unknown skills, control breathing, achieve something together in an unfamiliar area. She is very much looking forward to introducing these 'singing breaks' for personnel as a healthy alternative to going to the gym and having training days in a more traditional way.
Apart from organising workshops and conducting her choirs, Bea also remains active in organising tours for choirs and organists.