Bart Plugers, born in Tongeren in 1997, is a Belgian up-and-coming singer and composer with a strong sense for jazz and pop music. His love for music originated at the young age of seven, where he picked up the classical guitar and never put it down ever since. He later studied other instruments such as the piano, as well as the electric guitar. The overwhelming joy for singing started flourishing while studying at the art high schools PIKOH and Musart, playing in bands and writing songs in the meantime. Year by year, the importance of music grew until there was no more point in denying it.
At the young age of eighteen, he gets accepted into the vocal class of the jazz department of the Royal Conservatory of Brussels. Under the inspiring mentorship of the iconic vocalist and composer David Linx, Bart has grown into a versatile performer and composer with a distinct style and dynamic musical personality. His love for improvised and minimalistic music has taken him to the Haute École de Musique de Lausanne (Switzerland), to study under greats such as Susanne Abbuehl and Emil Spanyi for a year. In 2020, he obtains his master’s degree in jazz vocals with distinction after studying with David Linx, Diederik Wissels, Stéphane Galland and many more.
Bart has recently graduated with the highest distinction from the renowned Hochschule der Künste in Bern . Thereby, he was inspired by some of the best musicians in the world, such as Andreas Schaerer, Jim Black, Django Bates, Ralph Alessi, Tom Arthurs, Colin Vallon and many others.
As a composer, Bart has been actively writing and arranging music for his own projects as well as for other musicians. He has written music for small and large ensembles with different shapes and forms, with performances in various exciting settings. He is actively engaged as a songwriter for different singer-songwriters and theatre projects. A recent highlight includes the creation of songs for the ‘Concours Européen de la chanson philosophique’, on the road touring Europe from 2019-2021.
As a teacher, Bart has been sharing his enthusiasm for education and music pedagogy since 2016. He has taught vocal technique, interpretation and songwriting to students and professionals of all levels and ages. He has experienced the joy of choir leading, as well as the organisation of masterclasses and concerts. Between 2016-2017, he was active in the music center MyUSIC and later taught the jazz-pop-rock singing department of the Genkse Academie voor Kunst from 2019-2020. Bart currently gives private singing lessons in Bern.
As a performer, Bart has been seen on stage in varying settings, from solo to bigband. His musical versatility has manifested itself throughout different musical genres, including classical, indie and electronic music. He has received masterclasses from Norma Winstone, Leïla Martial, Fay Claassen, Kurt Elling, etc. He has performed alongside established artists such as Sheila Jordan, Marilyn Mazur, Wolfert Brederode, Øyvind Hegg-Lunde, Isabelle Olivier, Matthieu Michel, David Linx, Susanne Abbuehl, Fabrice Moreau and others. As a tenor for the Cinematic Art Choir, Bart has toured the biggest European venues with film music giants James Newton Howard (2017) & Hans Zimmer (2016-2017). Following an invitation from the Swiss embassy, Bart performed alongside guitarist Eliott Knuets before His Majesty King Filip and Her Majesty Queen Mathilde of Belgium and His Excellency the President of the Swiss Confederation Ignazio Cassis at Bozar (Brussels) during the official state visit on November 25th, 2022.
The debut album Blossom and Blasphemy was released on the 23rd of September 2022 on the German label Double Moon Records/Challenge Records International as part of the Jazz Thing Next Generation series. The album was well received by the (inter)national press.