Anne-Maartje Lemereis has been the National Composer since 2024. For this program, she will perform songs based on well-known fairy tales such as Snow White, Little Red Riding Hood, and Sleeping Beauty. She has also selected music that inspires her, by Purcell, Schumann, and others.

Michael Gieler, artistic director of the IJ-Salon: ‘Anne-Maartje is a highly original and versatile musician. I appreciate the humor that always sparkles through in her music. All the more reason to invite her to the IJ-Salon. I understand that our colleagues will also have to sing. Something to look forward to!’

Amsterdam is a hotspot for jazz and free improvisation. Here, enthusiasts can encounter not only international greats but also the most interesting up-and-coming talents. We’ve invited a number of them to challenge musicians from the Concertgebouw Orchestra in a genre that’s new to them. In addition to improvised music, the program features works by Bartók and Satie.

Michael Gieler, artistic director of IJ-Salon: ‘Sun-Mi Hong is a fascinating musician and composer. Through her own efforts and passion alone, she has broken free from her background to become one of the most formidable young musicians to have settled in Amsterdam. Her music is subtle and multi-layered. She draws her inspiration from the great French composers and Béla Bartók.’

The Cuban capital, Havana, lives and breathes music. Under the Caribbean sun, a spirited people use their music to brave the hardships that life throws their way. The cheerfulness and humor of Cuban music make for a festive end to 2021. A mini-festival featuring music ranging from the early Baroque composers who emigrated from Spain, through the distinctive sounds of the zarzuela (Spanish-language operetta), to the music of today. The event will conclude with a spectacular dance party in the Entrance Hall.

Michael Gieler, artistic director of Music Stages: 'Mirelys Morgan joined the Concertgebouw Orchestra a few years ago. She had a sweet, charming sound. Her body sometimes seemed fluid, so relaxed. My fascination with Cuba and the Caribbean began upon her arrival. Soon after, I met a very talented young Dutch conductor, Leonard Evers. He too had a great interest in Cuba and is full of wonderful ideas. We're teaming up to throw an unforgettable end-of-year party.’

 

Program

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Violinist Mirelys Morgan and pianist Madarys Morgan are top Cuban musicians—and sisters. As part of the Noches de la Habana mini-festival, Mirelys and Madarys Morgan will present a lecture-recital in the Kleine Zaal, featuring Cuban repertoire for violin and piano.

In the VPRO's four-part travel series *Cuba After Castro* The film follows Cuban-Dutch filmmaker Yuribert Capetillo Hardy during his emotionally charged return to his homeland. In his talk, the talented filmmaker discusses the making of the series and shows key moments from it. He also talks about recent developments since he made his trip to Cuba.

In the VPRO's four-part travel series *Cuba After Castro* The film follows Cuban-Dutch filmmaker Yuribert Capetillo Hardy during his emotionally charged return to his homeland. In his talk, the talented filmmaker discusses the making of the series and shows key moments from it. He also talks about recent developments since he made his trip to Cuba.

The Cuban capital, Havana, lives and breathes music. Under the Caribbean sun, a lively people use their music to brave the hardships that life throws their way. The cheerfulness and humor of Cuban music make for a festive concert with a spectacular afterparty.

 

As a young Dutch civil servant in the 1960s, Frank Hubatka saw the Papuans’ hopes for independence go up in smoke. His daughter, Merel Hubatka, wrote the novel Norman about this turbulent period in his life. The novel has now been adapted into an opera. 

The opera follows the storyline of the book, the life story of Norman Taborsky, Frank Hubatka’s fictional alter ego. In 1959, he traveled to the western half of the island of New Guinea. In his early twenties, Norman was appointed—in accordance with Dutch policy—to help the Papuans on their path to independence. Despite many promises, the Netherlands abandoned the Papuans, and Papua New Guinea was annexed by Indonesia. Papua Opera is a fact-based story about politics, hope, and disappointment, but above all about human resilience.

Jazz musician and composer Maarten Ornstein has delved into Papuan music and combines authentic melodies with jazz from the ’60s and ’70s and modern classical sounds. In addition to six classical, jazz, and pop singers, the cast also includes four Papuan singers—people living in exile in the Netherlands.

The cast consists of a combination of six classical, jazz, and pop singers, along with a choir of four Papuan singers—people living in exile in the Netherlands. In the leading roles, we see the young, up-and-coming Dutch singers Steven van der Linden, Yosina Roemajauw (2018 Voicekids winner), Channa Malkin, and Robinson Jouwe (the grandson of Nicolas Jouwe, who at the time was poised to become president of an independent Papua New Guinea).

The ensemble consists of nine musicians from the Concertgebouw Orchestra and is composed of two violins, a viola, a cello, a double bass, a trumpet, an Ondes Martenot synthesizer, and two percussionists. The musicians work directly with the singers.

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The American George Gershwin is one of composer and pianist Rembrandt Frerichs’s greatest inspirations. Like a bolt from the blue, Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue for piano and jazz band burst onto the European music scene nearly a century ago. And to this day, the work continues to resonate. Anyone who has ever heard the piercing clarinet solo that opens this popular piano concerto will never forget it. A hundred years later, we set out to find today’s Dutch Gershwin.

Michael Gieler, artistic director of Music Stages: ‘Rembrandt is a wonderful artist, versatile and inventive. We’ve asked him and three young Dutch composers to follow in Gershwin’s footsteps and write a new piece that bridges the gap between jazz and classical music. They’ll have a fantastic group of musicians at their disposal for the performance. Full swing guaranteed!’

‘When I am laid in earth.’ Who isn’t familiar with Dido’s gorgeous lament? Purcell's opera Dido and Aeneas tells the story of Queen Dido and her love for the hero Aeneas. Through the spells cast by witches, she is separated from him and dies of a broken heart—but not before she has sung her magnificent song. Director Peter Leung leads the young cast and the singers of the National Youth Choir.

Michael Gieler, artistic director of Music Stages: ‘With our production of *Dido*, we want to connect the past and the present. Our version references the opera’s premiere at an English girls’ school. At the same time, a newly written prologue by poet Julia-Beth Harris and composer Meriç Artaç firmly anchors the action in the present. This creates a modern story about the tension between power and powerlessness, between a sense of duty and passion.’

 

"Dido and Aeneas" is made possible in part by the Prince Bernhard Cultural Fund, Société Gavigniès, and

 

 

Due to the ongoing uncertainty surrounding COVID-19 measures, this concert has been rescheduled for October 8, 2022, and will serve as the festive opening of our new musical season. Ticket holders will be notified.


The Cuban capital, Havana, lives and breathes music. Under the Caribbean sun, a spirited people use their music to brave the hardships that life throws their way. The cheerfulness and humor of Cuban music make for a festive end to 2021. A mini-festival featuring music ranging from the early Baroque composers who emigrated from Spain, through the distinctive sounds of the zarzuela (Spanish-language operetta), to the music of today. The event will conclude with a spectacular dance party in the Entrance Hall.

Michael Gieler, artistic director of Music Stages: 'Mirelys Morgan joined the Concertgebouw Orchestra a few years ago. She had a sweet, charming sound. Her body sometimes seemed fluid, so relaxed. My fascination with Cuba and the Caribbean began upon her arrival. Soon after, I met a very talented young Dutch conductor, Leonard Evers. He too had a great interest in Cuba and is full of wonderful ideas. We're teaming up to throw an unforgettable end-of-year party.’

Beautiful music was composed by a strange, socially awkward man—a lonely outsider in a world that didn’t understand him: Franz Schubert. This classical piece is viewed through the lens of Planet AiRich, a brilliant young woman and a leading figure in Afrofuturism in the Netherlands.

Michael Gieler, artistic director of Music Stages: ‘Nowadays, everyone loves Schubert. It’s difficult to imagine that this genius was largely misunderstood during his much too short life, only just being propped up by friends who truly believed in him. Art is unpredictable. That's why we cherish the past in our programmes whilst continuing to invest in the music of the future.'