Baptism of the Troubadours Of King Baudouin

Father Guido Haazen became director of Kamina Central School in what was then the Belgian Congo in September 1953. Within weeks he established an ensemble consisting of a male choir – about forty-five boys aged nine to fourteen and fifteen adults – and percussion. In 1957 he received royal consent to name the ensemble Les Troubadours du Roi Bauduoin in honour of the Belgian king Baudouin I. In the same year Haazen and the Baluba people of Kasai and Katanga began developing the Missa Luba from collective improvisations on traditional song forms. It was first celebrated at the Catholic mission of St. Bavo in Kamina on 23 March 1958. The next day, the ensemble left for a tour of Europe, performing the Mass and Congolese folk music in Belgium.

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