Jeroen de Vaal was born September 14, 1973 in Utrecht and grew up in Lexmond. His clear voice was noticed at a very young age and he received a main part in a local children's musical when he was seven. In 1984 he began taking singing lessons from the famous concert singer Pieter Vis from Houten. Vis had a reputation for teaching classical kids-voices in the Netherlands and abroad. At age 11 he sang the 'Lexmonds' nightingale' together with his teacher at several Christmas concerts. Jeroen also sang solos with several choirs in the Netherlands: the Rotterdam boy's choir by Freek Velders (1928-1994), the Menorahchoir from Papendrecht by Jelte Veenhoven, Hagecantare by René verhoef and the St. Niklaas menchoir directed by Rik Moerman from Leper (Belgium).
During the Christmas of 1986, Jeroen sang almost for nearly 12,000 listeners at the Rotterdam goals from the yearly series of 10 christmas concerts by the 'Deo Cantemus' choir by Adrie Pronk (1929 - 1991). Highlights from these evenings have been broadcast by the EO-TV show by Eurovisionnet Christmas evening. In many of the church concerts for TV or radio, Jeroen sang duets with the 15-year-old boy alto Wilbert van Iperen, born April 3, 1970 in Hardinxveld-Giessendam. Jeroen later completed his HAVO-education and his VWO-education at the Dr. De Bruyne Lyceum in Utrecht. At the moment he studies French at the Rijksuniversiteit in Utrecht. Besides this he studies classical singing at the conservatory in Utrecht. Once in a while he performs as lyric Tenor with his former mentor Dr. Pieter Vis.
Until Jeroen's voice changed at 15, he sang in nearly 300 concerts in and out the country. He also sang on more than 20 LP's. The contents of this cd with classical and religious songs are only 25% of what is left from his recordings. As a boy soprano he wasn't only gifted with a beautiful clear voice but also a talent for music. Besides religious and classic songs he also sang international folk and musical songs. By listening to this varied music disc we can only be toughed by his voice. For Jeroen himself this CD release is a valuable audio-document and a worthy crown on his short carreer as 'the nightingale of Lexmond. — Sleeve Notes
