King of Katoren 2
start: from March 2027 / various dates
School project for groups 5 to 8 primary schools in Zeist and surrounding areas. Workshops at school with a festive conclusion at school. Fully booked, but you can still sign up for the waiting list.
From Friday 14 to Saturday 22 May 2027, the eleventh edition of Internationaal Lied Festival Zeist will take place with the theme Liberty, equality, fraternity.In this school project, storyteller Eric Borrias brings the wonderful story King of Katoren To life, written by Jan Terlouw. Matthijs Overmars, musician, composed the lied project, and Mary Heylema wrote the lyrics. We invite you to take part with pupils from Years 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and/or 6 in this lied primary school class project.
The goal is to stimulate and develop students' singing enjoyment and talent, by learning the projectliederen with all participating schools and working towards a special performance. Because singing together is the basis of musical development. In the period from March to May 2027, one of our music teachers/choir conductors will give two singing lessons at school to learn the liederen. In the period from Wednesday 19 May to Friday 4 June, the festive presentation will take place at the school itself, led by the music teacher/choir conductor with Sjoerd Brouwer on the piano. Eric Borrias tells the story, and the parents and the other classes of the school form the audience. An unforgettable experience!
King of Katoren
On the night that the jolly king of Katoren dies, a little boy is born: Stach. But on that same night he also loses his father and mother. For this reason, he is raised by his Uncle Gervaas, an old servant of the king and just as good-humoured as the old king himself. Seventeen years later, Stach has grown into a cheerful, helpful boy with a great sense of justice. But Katoren is a land without a king, where all this time the sour ministers have been able to do as they please. The people have become gloomy and afraid there. Stach wants to put an end to that: he will be the next king of Katoren! The ministers are not going to let that happen without a fight. They devise seven increasingly difficult tasks for Stach to perform before he may become king. Naturally, they hope he will give up, but Stach perseveres because it is time for more cheerfulness. Will Stach manage to become the new king of Katoren?
The musical basis of this project is the poem King of Katoren written by Mary Heylema and set to music by Matthijs Overmars, musician. Eric Borrias tells the story King of Katoren The school classes sing projectlied and three other liederen that fit the different scenes of this wonderful story by Jan Terlouw.
The music teacher/choir director is running two singing lessons at your school, as a result of which you can see the pupils' enjoyment of singing increasing:
In the period between singing lessons, the group teachers continue to practise classically so that the students can sing the liederen properly during the festive performance.
The school will receive the following materials for this purpose:
If you don't have a class teacher or music teacher who can practise the liederen at school, or if you want to give groups more lessons, it is also possible to have extra singing lessons provided by an enthusiastic singing teacher from the Internationaal Lied Festival Zeist. Singing teachers Lea Zantinge or Joëlle Ocheng will then provide them during the period February–April 2026 extra singing lessons at your school:
sign up
up to and including 30 September 2026
placement
14 September to 9 October 2026
Scheduling extra singing lessons by a singing teacher
February – April 2027
First singing lesson per group and practising at their own school
March/April 2027
second singing lesson with all participating groups together by music teacher / choir director with Sjoerd Brouwer on the piano
April/May 2027
performance King of Katoren
at school
Week 22: Monday 24 May to Friday 28 May 2027
Participation in the school project costs £395 per school based on one participating group. If multiple groups from the school take part, an additional £175 will be charged per extra group. The costs for extra singing lessons in the period February–April 2026 amount to £90 per singing lesson.
Fully booked, but you can still join the waiting list by sending an email to educatie@ilfz.nl. State in your application how many pupils you wish to take part. There is space for a maximum of five schools. Placement is in order of receipt. In the period from Monday 14 September to Friday 9 October 2026 we will contact you regarding the placement.