Urker Mannenzangvereniging ''Onger Oens''
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Urk Men's Singing Association "Onger-Oens" was officially founded in 1988.
Actually, "Onger-Oens" has been around for much longer, because long before that, every Saturday evening, people sang together.
About 10 fishermen gathered to sing some psalms and spiritual songs, accompanied by a self-made upper voice.
And so the idea of setting up a singing society, and then on Saturday evenings, when the fishermen were at home, singing for a pleasant hour, took on more and more definite forms.
For many choirs in Urk, the rehearsal consists of rehearsing the songs in four voices,
But for these men, this didn't have to be so difficult, and it could also be much easier and more easy-going.
And... which was also very important to these men; They were big fans of singing on the sea.
Heads were put together and the foundation of "Onger-Oens" in 1988 was a fact.
A name was soon found, and this was a real Urk name or expression ... "Onger-Oens"
And that stands for friendly among each other/together.
The first conductor of the choir was Mr. T.W. van Eerde from Urk and the organist was Jurie van den Berg.
The old pedal organ was driven every week from the Quatros fishing company, on a forklift, by Jan Anker,
through rain and wind, to the rehearsal room in the company of the Gebr. Jan and Gerrit Bos transported.
The old organ was as leaky as a sieve, and when the conductor indicated that it should be played louder, Jurie kicked his legs out for a little extra volume.
Later, Piet Weessies joined us on the organ, until he said goodbye to us in 2008 due to a serious illness.
In the year 2009 Piet Weessies passed away at the age of 69.
Since the year 2000 the choir has been conducted by Jurie van den Berg and the organ is currently played by William Hoorn.
The repetoire of "Onger-Oens" consists of the singing of Psalms and simple songs of, among others, Glory Bells and John the Lord.
During performances, the singers are of course dressed in the traditional costumes of the former island of Urk.
