The Van Abbemuseum Choir

Two works of art that both had been on display in the museum have been at the cradle of the Van Abbemuseum Choir.

In 2009-11, the Play Van Abbe collection presentation featured the Lied van de zaalwachters (Song of the ushers) of the Russian artists' collective Chto Delat. It is a song of praise to the volunteers of the museum and an appeal to the residents of Eindhoven not to ignore the museum.

In 2012-13 the exhibition Guppy 13 vs Ocean Wave by Ahmet Ögüt was on view, an exhibition about the last works of the Dutch artist Bas Jan Ader. Ader had attempted to cross the Atlantic Ocean with a Guppy 13, one of the smallest sailboats in the world. A journey from which he would not return. Ögüt made a film in which a Guppy 13 sails backwards through the screen with constantly changing persons on board, in the background the song A Life On The Ocean Wave is played backwards. A framed score of the song hung on the wall.

After seeing these works, Willy de Rooij got the idea to set up a choir in the museum, with the main objective of celebrating the works of art in the museum. After the museum had agreed, provided her on mondays, when the museum is closed for visitors, with a rehearsal room and she gathered a dozen of enthusiastic choir members around her, she started early 2013 rehearsing. A Life On The Ocean Wave became the first song in the repertoire of the Van Abbemuseum Choir. During the opening of the new collection presentation The collection now on November 2, 2013, the choir performed it for the first time, along with a number of other songs. From that moment onward, the Van Abbemuseum not only had works of art and a building, but also its own choir.