Bart Plugers

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, Stijn & Bert Cools and many more.

Bart is currently pursuing another dream of his; A Master of Jazz pedagogy and composition at the renowned Hochschule der Künste Bern, Switzerland. Here, he draws inspiration from some of the world’s finest musicians such as Andreas Schaerer, Django Bates, Ralph Alessi, Tom Arthurs, Colin Vallon and countless 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‘, soon to be back on the road touring Europe.

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 Rock ‘n’ Roll Highschool 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 alongsides 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).