(literally: "The Shepherd Boys"), also known as the , is a Belgian choir of boys and men based in

Waterloo, Belgium Waterloo (; ; ) is a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in Wallonia, located in the province of Walloon Brabant, Belgium, which in 2011 had a population of 29,706 and an area of . Waterloo lies a short distance south of Brussels, and immedia ...

. It was established in 1974 and is currently

conducted Conducting is the art of directing a musical performance, such as an orchestral or Choir, choral concert. It has been defined as "the art of directing the simultaneous performance of several players or singers by the use of gesture." The primary d ...

by Philippe Favette and Xavier Devillers. Their

repertoire Repertory or repertoire () is the list or set of works a person or company is accustomed to performing. Whether the English or French spelling is used has no bearing, but it was the French word, with an accent on the first e, , that first took ho ...

includes works of

sacred music Religious music (also sacred music) is a type of music that is performed or composed for religious use or through religious influence. It may overlap with ritual music, which is music, sacred or not, performed or composed for or as a ritual. Reli ...

as well as songs of the world.

History

Concerts and events

Since

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a Religion, religious and Culture, cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by coun ...

1974, Les Pastoureaux traditionally perform a series of concerts during the

Christmas and holiday season The Christmas season or the festive season, also known as the holiday season or the holidays, is an annual period generally spanning from November or December to early January. Incorporating Christmas Day and New Year's Day, the various celebrat ...

, in

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

(at the

Centre for Fine Arts The Centre for Fine Arts (, ; , ) is a multi-purpose cultural venue in the Royal Quarter of Brussels, Belgium. It is often referred to as BOZAR (a homophone of ''Beaux-arts'') in French or by its initials PSK in Dutch. This multidisciplinary s ...

and in the Cathedral of St. Michael and St. Gudula), as well as in

Wallonia Wallonia ( ; ; or ), officially the Walloon Region ( ; ), is one of the three communities, regions and language areas of Belgium, regions of Belgium—along with Flemish Region, Flanders and Brussels. Covering the southern portion of the c ...

. They also sing at various

music festival A music festival is a festival, community event with music, performances of singing and instrument playing that is often presented with a theme such as musical genre (e.g., rock music, rock, blues, folk music, folk, jazz, classical music), nation ...

s, such as the ''Festival of Wallonia'' and the ''

Festival of Flanders Festival of Flanders () is an annual music event at different locations in Flanders. It started initially as a "Summer Festival", but now its activities are spread from January to May, with a peak in late summer and early autumn. History The Festi ...

''. Their numerous concerts include collaborations with artists such as the famous

bass-baritone A bass-baritone is a high-lying bass or low-lying "classical" baritone voice type which shares certain qualities with the true baritone voice. The term arose in the late 19th century to describe the particular type of voice required to sing three ...

José van Dam Joseph, Baron Van Damme (born 25 August 1940 in Brussels), known as José van Dam, is a Belgian bass-baritone, described as having "a magnificent resonant and expressive voice" and being "an excellent actor". Life and career At the age of 17, h ...

, the Belgian

soprano A soprano () is a type of classical singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hertz, Hz to A5 in Choir, choral ...

Marie-Noëlle de Callataÿ and the American

Jeanette Thompson. Les Pastoureaux are regularly guests of private events, including most notably performances at the

Royal Palace of Brussels The Royal Palace of Brussels ( ; ; ) is the official palace of the Monarchy of Belgium, King and Queen of the Belgians in the centre of the nation's capital, Brussels. However, it is not used as a royal residence, as the king and his family l ...

and the

Royal Castle of Laeken Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family or royalty Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Ro ...

as well as their collaboration to the official show for the changeover to the

euro The euro (currency symbol, symbol: euro sign, €; ISO 4217, currency code: EUR) is the official currency of 20 of the Member state of the European Union, member states of the European Union. This group of states is officially known as the ...

(''The Euro Bridge'', Brussels, 31 December 2001). Besides, they are often called on for weddings ceremonies. On several occasions, soloists of Les Pastoureaux have taken part in opera productions, at the National Opera of Belgium

La Monnaie The Royal Theatre of La Monnaie (, ; , ; both translating as the "Royal Theatre of the Mint") is an opera house in central Brussels, Belgium. The National Opera of Belgium, a federal institution, takes the name of this theatre in which it is ho ...

and abroad. They represented Belgium at the Eurovision Choir of the Year 2017 in

Riga Riga ( ) is the capital, Primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Latvia, largest city of Latvia. Home to 591,882 inhabitants (as of 2025), the city accounts for a third of Latvia's total population. The population of Riga Planni ...

Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...

Directors

*1974–2006: Bernard Pagnier *2006–2024: Philippe Favette *2024–: Philippe Favette and Xavier Devillers

Summer tours

Since 1980, Les Pastoureaux travel on a two-three week international

concert tour A concert tour (or simply tour) is a series of concerts by an artist or group of artists in different cities, countries or locations. Often, concert tours are named to differentiate different tours by the same artist and to associate a specific ...

during summer. They've been to

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

, Austria,

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

, Canada,

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Japan,

Luxembourg Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in Western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France on the south. Its capital and most populous city, Luxembour ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

Slovenia Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...

, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and United States.

Discography

* ''Les Pastoureaux. Petits Chanteurs de Waterloo'' ( LP, 1979) * ''Mozart, Buxtehude, Haendel, Haydn'' ( LP, 1981) * ''Les Pastoureaux. Petits Chanteurs de Waterloo'' ( LP, 1983) * ''Noël c'est l'Amour'' ( LP, 1984) * ''Schubert, Mozart, Buxtehude'' ( LP, 1987) * ''Haydn: Nelson Mass, Schubert: Mass in G Major D 167'' (Soleil Levant) * ''Mozart: Requiem'' (Soleil Levant 1991) * ''Chants de Noël'' (Soleil Levant 1992) * ''Christmas in Waterloo'' (Syrinx Record 1994) * ''Mozart: Coronation Mass KV 317, Solemn Vespers of the Confessor KV 339'' (Soleil Levant 1997) * ''Les Pastoureaux en tournée'' (Soleil Levant 1999) * ''Les Pastoureaux. Petits Chanteurs de Waterloo'' (for the choir's 30th birthday, Soleil Levant 2005) * ''Llibre Vermell de Montserrat'' (with the early-music instrumental ensemble Millenarium,

Psallentes Psallentes ("those who sing") is a Gregorian chant ensemble founded in 2000 and based in Leuven, Belgium. Members Psallentes consists of singers Conor Biggs, Lieven Deroo, Pieter Coene, Paul Schils and Philippe Souvagie and is directed by Hendrik V ...

and the

Chœur de chambre de Namur The Choeur de Chambre de Namur (founded 1987) is a choir based in Namur, which is sponsored by the Communauté française de Belgique. Since 2010 the artistic director has been Leonardo García Alarcón and conductor of the instrumental ensemble i ...

, Ricercar 2007) * ''For the Beauty of the Earth'' (2012) * ''Around the World'' (2014) * ''Fauré: Requiem'' (2017) * ''Noël!'' (2019) * ''Vivaldi: Gloria RV 589, Dixit Dominus RV 595'' (with the Millenium Orchestra, 2022)

References

Notes

External links

* – multilingual *
Les Pastoureaux
on

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

*
Les Pastoureaux
on

Spotify Spotify (; ) is a List of companies of Sweden, Swedish Music streaming service, audio streaming and media service provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. , it is one of the largest providers of music streaming services ...

** **
Les Pastoureaux
page at ''The Boy Choir & Soloists Directory (BCSD)'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Pastoureaux, Les Choirs of children Boys' and men's choirs Music of Belgium Musical groups established in 1974 Les Pastoureaux