About us
MAVIS is a five-part vocal ensemble that performs exceptionally communicatively with beautifully varied programs. The group does not focus on a specific musical genre or period in time but presents programs with a story. The repertoire ranges from polyphony to actual, popular and even new music, composed and arranged to measure our songbirds. Thanks to a solid joint vocal vision, MAVIS is a young ensemble with enormous potential and an enchanting timbre.
MAVIS aims to sing by heart to fully connect with every listener. The group wants to make vocal music accessible to a broader audience. Also, MAVIS collaborates with educational institutions to support young composers writing vocal music.
Our Songbirds
Giovanna Pardo
Giovanna enchants everyone at MAVIS, as soprano, with her highest notes. She is a vocal centipede due to her exceptional flexibility, which allows her to switch effortlessly between any style and period.
With her contribution to concerts, operas and projects on various major stages in Europe, Asia and South America, Giovanna has won the hearts of the public with her voice, charisma and spontaneity, attitude and musicality. This great appreciation has also been confirmed through various prices, such as received by the Queen Sofia of Spain and in numerous prestigious international singing competitions, including the Queen Elisabeth Competition and the Rita Gorr Opera Competition. She is also member of the Duo and Ensemble D'Atlántico with Andrew Wise and Tille Van Gastel.
Anna Nuytten
Anna gives colour to the sound of MAVIS with her tender mezzo-soprano voice. She is passionate about ensemble singing and has performed with various professional ensembles such as B'Rock Choir, Ghent Singers, Swara Vocal Ensemble, Ex Tempore, Currende, Flemish Radio Choir...
Anna conducts Asem' mixed choir in Wervik. She has collaborated with several special vocal coaches and artists: Delphine Galou, The King's Singers, Emma Kirkby... In 2019 she founded the lute duo 'Coordonné' with Thomas Langlois. They regularly perform renaissance repertoire and contemporary pieces adapted or composed for lute. They recently recorded their first record, Terrain Vague, with the record label Etcetera.
Hans Helsen
Hans is the sparkling tenor and house composer of MAVIS. He is a Belgian composer, tenor and music educator. Connecting people through singing is the common thread throughout his work. He was laureate of the European Award for Choral Composers in 2014 and 2020.
Hans regularly performs with the Currende ensemble and the Dutch chamber choir Studium Chorale. He is a composition teacher at STAP Roeselare. Hans also leads several choirs in this academy for the performing arts and at the Bruges VZW Cantores. He regularly works for Concertgebouw Brugge and worked as a teacher and researcher at the Lemmens Institute in Leuven (LUCA School of Arts) and KU Leuven.
Reinhard Andries
Reinhard is the warm baritone of MAVIS. His love for singing started in the children's choir led by his mother. His work as a choirmaster prompted him to study singing later in his career.
Reinhard is now active as a singer with Studium Chorale and Currende. He is the assistant conductor of the Royal Band of the Belgian Navy. With the Bruges non-profit organization Cantores, he leads the youth choir Cantores Twist and the adult choir Cantores Avvio.
Sander Meersmans
Sander, with his deep bass voice, is the foundation of MAVIS. He was just shy of 6 years old when he took his first musical steps at the Lier academy. There, he developed a great love for piano music and (choir) singing.
Piano, choir, singing, and arranging remain to this day the main pillars in Sander's musical life. He teaches piano and is a piano accompanist at the Borgerhout academy. Additionally, he is the conductor of the Popkoor Waelrant and provides piano accompaniment for various choirs. Sander undertook a two-year Complete Vocal Technique course in the Netherlands. Since 2016, he has formed the piano duo Symbiosis with Elisabeth Crommelynck.