Exploring New Playgrounds

Our second year Bachelor students from the Vocal, Jazz, Early & Classical Music Department went into the ‘wijk’ (borough) of The Hague and explored possibilities to bring their music to new audiences. The result were 12 inspiring and successful initiatives with the potential to be continued even outside the school syllabus. Just like last year, we had the privilege to use De Nieuwe Regentes as our headquarters. Some of the concerts and end presentations took place here, but most groups were able to perform on location. Due to the current Covid-19 pandemic, off-site concerts mostly took place outside. We started off at an elderly home where students performed in the garden and on the roof to keep a sufficient distance from the vulnerable inhabitants. After months of no visitors and mostly isolation to keep everyone safe, music and festiveness returned to the Jonker Frans retirement home. Also, the students were excited to finally be able to perform for a real audience since the lockdown in March. The next stops were a horse stable, a boxing school and a hip cycling café where a group of Early Music students played French music parallel to a live screening of the Tour de France.

At De Nieuwe Regentes a dream came true. Hobby singer Joop, who misses his choir terribly and wasn’t able to sing with others since the lockdown, stood on a stage with a Jazz band of the Royal Conservatoire. ‘Performing with a real professional band has been a life-long dream’ Joop tells a reporter, ‘But I was really nervous’ he admits, hiding behind a head and his sheet music during the performance.

It was a new experience for the pianist as well, as Peter actually studies Early Music Piano with a Minor in harpsichord: ‘I really enjoyed the project. It was hard to play non-classical repertoire, as I am not used to it, but I like going out of my comfort zone and challenge myself. After this project, I am considering to take a Jazz harmony class, as there is so much more to learn. We really wanted Joop to enjoy himself on stage, and I think we reached this goal!’

The ‘Woman Plaza’ group explored stories of immigration, homesickness and belonging with a group of female refugees and turned those memories into a touching performance where they sang and played together on stage. For the refugee women it was the first time to stand on a real stage and to sing in Dutch.

The Entrepreneurial Bootcamp: 'Explore New Playgrounds' is built into the Bachelor of Music curriculum as part of the Career Skills courses.