The Creation of International Festival Vocallis
In 2012, the first edition of Festival Vocallis took place. At the initiative of Roger Braun, the Festival was set up and organized by himself as artistic director and with Jo Zinken as business manager. After an internal evaluation of the Festival's content, collaboration and social importance, the organization said goodbye to Roger Braun in 2017.
Not only the artistic interpretation and programming have changed significantly from 2017, but also the organization as a whole. This was based on a first five-year plan 2017-2021 – written by artistic director Gert Geluk – with a vision of a successful future, in which the voice is central and the Festival is rooted in its environment. In addition to the Festival, education and talent development play an important role. Key words from 2017 are: Wonder, Meeting and Experience.
Because more and more musicians from all over Europe are invited and there is collaboration with organizations from the Euregion, the name of the Festival was changed in 2019 to: International Festival Vocallis.
In 2021, the 10th edition of International Festival Vocallis occurred. From there on out the management and the board have given content and shape to a second five-year plan for 2022-2027.
International Festival Vocallis will focus even more on strong themes, with the theme of 2022 being 'The power of music' in the broadest sense of the word. In addition, the 4 Rs 'continue', 'connect', 'innovate' and 'deepening' occupy a prominent place as part of the marketing & communication policy.