Nos événements
Carillon and organ concert on Tuesday afternoon
The free Tuesday afternoon concerts in Turnhout in July have been a huge success since 2012. There are also some wonderful concerts scheduled for the second half of the month. Liam Flood is an American student from Chicago. He studied chemical engineering at university. He later moved to Washington D.C. to work as an engineer. Alongside this, Liam developed a love for music. Liam’s first musical instrument was an American chime of 15 bells (similar to a carillon). He moved to Belgium in 2025 to study at the Royal Carillon School ‘Jef Denyn’ in Mechelen, where he graduated this academic year under Koen Van Assche. He enjoys taking Dutch lessons and discovering Belgium’s history, culture and cuisine.
Tom Van Der Plas (b. 1991) studied organ at the Royal Conservatoire of Liège, where he was awarded a first-class distinction for his final recital, which featured works by Bach and Dupré, as well as a reworked transcription of the third movement of César Franck’s symphony. Tom teaches in the organ class at the Municipal Conservatoire of Mechelen. He is also the titular organist at St John’s Church in Mechelen and is director of music at the Anglican Church of Saint Boniface in Antwerp. As a conductor, Tom leads Cantus Amici from Mechelen and the youth and adult choir Lyric Music from Bonheiden. Tom has attended various international masterclasses and choral and organ courses, and performs regularly as a soloist, collaborating with choirs, orchestras and other soloists.
Oona Van Aken (b. 1990) works as a dancer, choreographer and teacher. She graduated in dance and performance from the Salzburg Experimental Academy of Dance (S.E.A.D.) and also holds a degree in Theatre Studies from Ghent University. In 2022, she collaborated with Tom Van Der Plas on ‘Mad Rush’, an initial interdisciplinary collaboration aimed at combining the power of the organ and dance through Philip Glass’s composition of the same name. This collaboration continued in 2023 with an expansion of the programme under the name ‘Axis Mundi’. Oona also works as a dance teacher at the Bornem Academy and as a freelancer for Wisper.
In summary, every Tuesday afternoon in July 2026: Carillon concert at 11.30 am in the market square in Turnhout; Organ concert at 12.15 pm in St Peter’s Church, also in the market square in Turnhout; with the option of an organ lunch afterwards at the Agora restaurant.
Bookings at https://www.agoraturnhout.be or 014 73 51 22
More information : https://www.gaudioso.net
Event Host Building
Saint-François
At their request, Marguerite de Lorraine (1463-1521) offered the sisters of Saint Elizabeth of Hungary, whom she had taken in 1499 from the Hôtel-Dieu (Hospital) in Mortagne-au-Perche to care for the sick, a convent where they could care for the needy and cloister themselves.
In 1505, she began construction of convent buildings at the gates of the town, on a field called “La Saingle” or “Les Javelots” bought by her adviser Jean Gouevrot, on which stood the sinister pitchforks erected for the execution of criminals. From 1506, the sisters settled here to follow the rule of the Order of Poor Clares.
One of his trusted ladies, Madame de Montboisier, supervised the work, and in 1515, the chapel adjoining the cloister was consecrated under the patronage of St Francis.
Their charitable work ceased when the abbey of Saint Claire became a national property. However, in 1800, this complex of buildings, which had not suffered any major damage, was converted into a hospital, which was taken over by the Augustinian nuns who had previously worked at the Hôtel-Dieu in Mortagne-au-Perche.
Today, this hospital-hospice is of great architectural and pictorial interest: the chapel and cloister have not undergone any major alterations since the 16th century, and the 17th-century alterations have not altered the sober appearance of the buildings.
What's more, thanks to generous donors, the interior of the chapel, which had been stripped bare during the Revolution, was restored and enriched with polychrome decoration in the century that followed.
The cloister was listed as a Historic Monument on 22 June 1920. The chapel was added to the Supplementary Inventory of Historic Monuments on 11 June 1986.
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