Description
Here, NBElive presents the live CD+DVD recording of ‘Oost West Thuis Niet Best’, the 2015 New Year’s Concert by VARA and the Netherlands Wind Ensemble, held on 1 January 2015 in the Royal Concertgebouw in Amsterdam. Proceeds from the concert were donated to the National Foundation for the Promotion of Happiness (Stichting de Vrolijkheid): ‘Music for all asylum seeker centres, that is our goal.’
In conjunction with guest soloists from Syria and Senegal and the four winners of the ‘Road to the New Year’s Concert’ composition contest, the Netherlands Wind Ensemble assembled a varied programme on the idea of ‘Oost West Thuis Niet Best’’ (‘Homeland Heartache’). The young composers each interpreted the theme in their own way. Annegreet Silvius (b. 1997) believes that ‘music can give you the feeling of coming home’; Michelle Brunt (b. 1999) wrote a work about a young man who does not feel at home anywhere (1999); Simo van de Vosse (b. 1998) believes that ‘our homes are our salvation whenever we need them’ and Pelle van Esch (b. 2001) composed for his boyfriend, himself an ‘Orphan’.
‘There is not a cynic alive who can resist such a rich harmonic tapestry of good intentions. The Netherlands Wind Ensemble has discovered how to create a musical presentation of world-class level, with a minimum of chit-chat.’
NRC Handelsblad daily paper
Soloists Omar Ka, Ali N’Diaye Rose, Prosper Kassé, Issa Sow, Absa Seck, Aissatov Faye, Mohamad Garrout, Mohamad Yassin Tawakalna, Jumana Khanji, Samer Akeed, Amer Shanati, Agid Arjin, Fady Saab, Emrah Oğuztürk, Rozenkoor, Anatolia Studentenkoor, ReART Wereldmuziekkoor, Sannaskoor, the Straatklinkers homeless chorus, Straat en Dijk, Nederlands Concertkoor, Al wahda Kids, Al wahda Afrah, Lysenkokoor, Sjier Chadasj, Vluchtgebouw.
Young composers Annegreet Silvius, Michelle Brunt, Pelle van Esch