Two multi-talented artists in one concert: Lucie Horsch is a well-deserved winner of the Dutch Music Prize. She brings her expressiveness on the recorder to her singing and piano playing. Klaus Mäkelä, the future chief conductor of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, is also a fantastic cellist.

Michael Gieler, artistic director of IJ-Salon: ‘I’ve known Lucie since she was a child—she’s the daughter of our colleague Gregor Horsch. Even back then, it was clear that her abundant talent couldn’t be limited to the recorder, even though she worked true wonders with it. We’re very eager to get to know her as a pianist and a singer.’

Romance at its finest. Spoken texts set to music were very popular during the Romantic period. During a difficult phase in his life, Robert Schumann composed music based on texts by the English poet Lord Byron. Today, unfortunately, there is somewhat less interest in this forgotten pairing. But as far as the IJ-Salon is concerned, this doesn’t have to stay that way. There’s nothing wrong with a good ‘rap.’.

Michael Gieler, artistic director of the IJ-Salon: ‘The American Jed Wentz gained widespread recognition in the Netherlands as the director of the Early Music Festival in Utrecht. He is now coming to the IJ-Salon for the first time with a unique genre: the melodrama. Jed has spent his entire life researching this genre and also performs on stages around the world to revive this art form.”.

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.'