Rob Vermeulen (1961) studied at the conservatories of Arnhem and Rotterdam, where he obtained his degree in choral conducting with Barend Schuurman. He then qualified in orchestral conducting with, among others, Sir John Eliot Gardiner, Sir Edward Downes, Peter Eötvos and Ferdinand Leitner.
Rob Vermeulen has been a conductor of Musica Vocale Wageningen since 1990, and since 1993 of Oost Nederlands Kamerkoor. He has built up a very varied repertoire with both choirs. Over the years there have been performances of major works such as Bach’s Mass in B Minor, St. John Passion, St. Matthew Passion and Magnificat, Monteverdi’s Vespers, Martin’s Mass, Rachmaninov’s All-Night Vigil (Vespers), Ramirez’ Misa Criolla, Mozart’s Requiem and C-Moll Mass, Haydn’s Stabat Mater, Nelson Mass and Sieben letzte Worte, Pärt’s Dixit Dominus, Messiah of Commerce, Kanon Pokajanen and Te Deum, Schnittke’s Requiem and Penitential Psalms, Poulenc’s Mass in G, Gloria and Figure Humaine.
A few years ago the Oost Nederlands Kamerkoor presented the Dutch premiere of Wolfgang Sauseng’s St. John Passion. Celebrating the 40th anniversary year of Introdans, Musica Vocale has given 16 very successful performances in full theatres throughout the Netherlands of Stravinsky’s Les Noces, together with the dancers of Introdans. Jointly, the two chamber choirs have put together a number of major projects, including Bruckner’s E-Moll Mass, Hindemith’s Apparebit Repentina Dies, Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis and, for the third time last season, Schnittke’s impressive Choir Concerto.
Rob Vermeulen is also conductor of Bachkoor Nijmegen, with which he has given many performances together with the Gelders Orkest. In addition to Bach’s annual Passions, there were performances of almost all major oratorio works, including Verdi’s Requiem, Mendelssohn’s Elias, Stabat Mater from Rossini, Poulenc and Szymanovky, and Prokofiev’s Alexander Nevsky Cantata.
Rob Vermeulen has also been conductor of the Nederlands Concertkoor, Projektkoor Utrecht and Projektorkest of the Twentieth Century for many years. Every year he leads the Young Composers Meeting, in which 16 young composers from around the world compose a piece for Orkest de Ereprijs. Rob Vermeulen works as a teacher at ArteZ and as a principal subject teacher choral conducting at HKU. With Paco Peña and his Flamenco ensemble, he performed his Missa Flamenco in many full-sized large halls, including the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam. This was followed by a successful tour through Greece and Lebanon with the same composition. They performed, among other, in the ancient Herodes Atticus Theater for 5,000 people.