Flagey Academy: the new multicultural youth choir with great ambitions

There’s no need to introduce Helen Cassano to classical music lovers, who already appreciate the English-born mezzo-soprano’s musical talent. Now, however, she is also preparing rising talent for the future at Flagey Academy. Flagey Academy offers young people in Brussels, aged 10-20 years old, choir training. The project, which was established in 2021, aims to make music and singing accessible to children and young people from an early age.

Prioritising diversity

“The conditions for admission? A good voice, a great sense of music and loads of motivation”, explains Helen Cassano. “We particularly cherish social and cultural diversity within our group”. To ensure this, Flagey Academy has partnered with primary schools in Anderlecht, Molenbeek and Ixelles, organising a singing training programme with them.

Children can audition. If they are selected, they can join the Flagey Academy youth choir, participating in free rehearsals, benefiting from theoretical and practical music lessons, voice coaching sessions, etc. before they showcase their talent to audiences during performances.

Personalised coaching

Helen Cassano has been working with the youth choir since October 2021 as the choir director and the project’s artistic director. “The ambience is excellent”, she says with a smile. "The young choristers are all very talented, and the group has a nice synergy, which shows in the tremendous results we have achieved. What makes Flagey Academy so unique is the individual voice coaching we provide once a month. This is a great opportunity to get to know our pupils even better and coach them as part of their development.”

With a public performance each month as well as workshops and other recurring activities, the Flagey Academy choir will undoubtedly make great progress in no time at all. “These youngsters have a great future, especially thanks to their shared passion for singing in a choir. I look forward to continuing to work with them every week and to sharing the results before an audience during our first concerts”, says Cassano.

A partner of choice

As a long-standing partner of Flagey, our bank is delighted to support this new project, which is both promising and inclusive. “The support of a partner such as BNP Paribas Fortis is vital for the success of this project, and I particularly appreciate the artistic freedom that I’ve been given. Because even if we place high demands in terms of quality, ultimately this needs to be a fun experience if we want to keep these youngsters motivated.”

A commitment to making culture accessible from an early age: another example of Positive Banking.

Watch this video excerpt from the rehearsals of the Flagey Academy youth choir.