Het initiatief De Wijkmuzikanten, ooit geboren als afstudeerproject ‘Orkest Morgenstond’ van Ilona Sie Dhian Ho, viooldocent aan het Koninklijk Conservatorium, richt zich al tien jaar op muziekparticipatieprojecten in Haagse wijken.
De Wijkmuzikanten steunen daarvoor in belangrijke mate op medewerking van muziekstudenten die aan het Koninklijk Conservatorium de minor Educatie of het keuzevak De Wijkmuzikanten volgen. Deze studenten werken mee aan de activiteiten van De Wijkmuzikanten, zoals schoolvoorstellingen in o.a. de stadsdelen Laak en Zuid-West en de Wijkopera.
The initiative De Wijkmuzikanten, once born as the graduation project 'Orkest Morgenstond' by Ilona Sie Dhian Ho, violin teacher at the Royal Conservatoire, has focused on music participation projects in districts of The Hague for ten years now.
For this, De Wijkmuzikanten rely heavily on the cooperation of music students who follow the minor Education or the optional subject De Wijkmuzikanten at the Royal Conservatoire. These students participate in the activities of De Wijkmuzikanten, such as school performances in the districts Laak and Zuid-West and the Wijkopera.
School performances
In January 2024, three groups of students developed three school performances based on the picture book of the year ('Help! A surprise' by Miriam Bos) as part of the minor/elective Wijkmuzikanten. In total, these performances for young children were performed nine times at various primary schools and in theatre Dakota in The Hague.
Participatory music theatre
The Wijkopera is a participatory music theatre performance developed in 2023 in close cooperation with the 'living rooms' of four Schroeder Kringloop shops in The Hague and Scheveningen. These living rooms are the meeting place of regular visitors who, out of loneliness, because of homelessness or because they cannot heat their own homes, visit the thrift shops daily for a cup of coffee and some conversation.
With and for these regular visitors, De Wijkmuzikanten created small musical theatre pieces, based on the (life) stories of these visitors who often have an active role in the performance themselves. After a performance at the respective location, the footage from the four location performances was merged into one montage performance. This was successfully presented in Amare's public space on 25 June 2023.
De Wijkmuzikanten was awarded the Cultuur in de wijk prijs in December 2023.
Wijkmuzikanten is an elective and is also part of the Education minor.