From its establishment in 1880 onwards till 1968 the Wind Orchestra was continuously led by Belgian conductors. In 1962 Sainte Cécile, directed by Hubert Vanderweckene, conquered the Dutch league title for the first time in its history in the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam. Vanderweckene in 1968 handed over the baton to the first Dutch conductor, Wiel Jacobs; followed by Hennie Ramaekers (1977), Alex Schillings (1989) and the current conductor Jan Cober (1995). He won the World Championship with Sainte Cécile in 2009 at the World Music Contest (WMC) in Kerkrade.
Under the leadership of Hennie Ramaekers an LP was recorded in 1982 consisting only of Belgian marches. Two years later, in 1984, the Wind Orchestra was classified in the then by the Dutch Union for Wind Music (Nederlandse Bond voor de Blaasmuziek) newly formed highest division, namely the
“Concert Division”. Led by Alex Schillings Sainte Cécile presented its first CD. Schillings was also a driving force in the reorganization of the (completely internal) musical education and the start of the annual youth music camp with more than 100 participants. Moreover Mr. Schillings introduced the internal competition for soloists: The Sainte Cécile Trophy.
With Mr. Jan Cober on the box Sainte Cécile established itself at the top of the international HaFa-world. Under his leadership they conquered the World Championship title in 2009 at the WMC in Kerkrade. Before that Sainte Cécile already earned various podium places at several participations in the WMC in Kerkrade (respectively 3rd and 2nd place in 1997 and 2001) and winning the Mini WMC in Kerkrade in 2007.
In 2001 and in 2007 Sainte Cécile won the Dutch Championships in the ‘Concertafdeling’. Led by Mr. Cober several (live) CD’s were recorded with both works from contemporary HaFa- composers and transcriptions of the large symphonic repertoire. Furthermore Sainte Cécile premièred music in the Dutch, European and World music scene with works composed by K.Husa, B.van Beurden and H.Badings.

The traditional Whitsuntide concert (since 1993) is a fixture on the calendar of ‘Theater aan het Vrijthof’ in Maastricht and takes place on the Saturday before Whitsuntide. The mix of traditional and innovative repertoire as well as the high quality of the performances annually attract many visitors from the region and far beyond. KRO-radio made several recordings which were entirely broadcast. Soloists such as John Bröcheler (Baritone) and Hubert Delamboye (Tenor) regularly cooperate with Sainte Cécile. So do the society’s own soloists as Roy Hovens (saxophone), Arno Piters (clarinet) and Jos Roeden (bass clarinet).
Sainte Cécile is widely known at home and abroad. This becomes evident by the many invitations the society received over the years. The orchestra gave concerts in Belgium, Luxembourg, France, Switzerland, Germany, Italy and Spain. Concerts were also given in several major cities in Poland during a concert tour in 1992 at the invitation of the Polish Ministry of Culture. In September 1996 Sainte Cécile gave some concerts, being the only amateur group then, on the occasion of the opening events of the Festival of Flanders in Ghent (B). In 1999 Sainte Cecile successfully participated in the first division, Section Honneur, of the world famous music contest “Certamen” in Valencia, Spain. In 2007 and 2009 Sainte Cécile cooperated with concerts by the well-known Limburg singer Gé Reinders in the ‘Theater aan het Vrijthof’ in Maastricht. In 2008 the orchestra received the invitation to organize an outdoor concert to mark the 125th anniversary of the Limburg Symphony Orchestra (LSO). Several thousand visitors in the castle park enjoyed the joint performance of Tchaikovsky’s Overture “1812”. It was of such great success that the performance was repeated that same year in the ‘Theater aan het Vrijthof’ in Maastricht as the opening of the new cultural season. Sainte Cécile is also regularly invited for the prestigious concert cycle ‘verrassende ontmoetingen’
(Surprising Encounters) in Tilburg.