More than 100 second-year students from the Royal Conservatoire The Hague started the academic year outside the conservatoire. During Explore New Playgrounds, they went into the Segbroek district to discover how music can connect with people and play a meaningful role in society. This year, the project was featured in de Volkskrant, which followed students as they brought personal serenades to residents across Segbroek.
Music for someone else
Explore New Playgrounds is an annual project organised in collaboration with Theatre De Regentes. It encourages students from different departments to step outside the walls of the conservatoire and explore new ways of using their artistry.
This year, Theatre De Regentes invited people in Segbroek to nominate a special person from their neighbourhood for a serenade. Twenty people were selected. Students spoke to their friends and acquaintances and then had three days to create a personal musical performance. The result was twenty serenades across Segbroek, each inspired by the person receiving it.
From tango to Fairuz and Stevie Wonder
De Volkskrant followed several groups of students during the project. Three students surprised 69-year-old Maria Mercedes Bervacy with a serenade from her neighbour’s balcony. Inspired by her Mexican roots, they performed music with Latin American influences, including an Argentinian tango and a poem by Cuban poet José Martí.
Another group created a serenade for Khadija Ayada, a valued member of a women’s group at a community centre in the Heesterbuurt. The six students brought together their different musical and cultural backgrounds. Their performance included Dutch, Portuguese, French and Hungarian traditional music and ended with Nassam alayna el hawa by Lebanese singer Fairuz.
At tennis club Breekpunt, four students performed soul and funk, including music by Stevie Wonder, for 79-year-old volunteer Joop Stadhouder. The serenade ended with Stadhouder dancing with other members of the club.
Stepping outside the conservatoire
The aim of Explore New Playgrounds is to encourage students to consider who they make music for and where their artistry can make a difference.
‘Musicians often start from their own perspective,’ project coordinator Isa Goldschmeding told de Volkskrant. ‘They play the music they want to play and hope people will come. This project shows students that they can also actively create something for others.’
For the students, that can mean looking at performing in a different way. Early Music student Katerina Chrysanthakopoulou told de Volkskrant: ‘When I perform Early Music, I aim for perfection. But this time, it was mainly about enjoying ourselves and doing something for someone else. That feels very powerful.’
The project reflects an important part of education at the Royal Conservatoire: developing artists who combine high artistic standards with an open and inquisitive attitude. By making connections outside the conservatoire, students experience how music can bring people together and contribute to society.
Read the full article on the website of de Volkskrant.