We are hugely proud to be able to announce this unique open-air concert. Some top musicians will be paying tribute to a range of female composers, including Florence Price, Margaret Bonds, Majoie Hajari and Consuelo Velázquez. The presenter will be Orville Breeveld, whose work includes serving as an adviser at Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw. He will be interviewing the musicians and sharing some facts about the female composers with the audience.
Programme for ‘Top musicians perform works by female composers’
- 19 June, 15.30-16.30
- Gustav Mahlerplein (next to station Amsterdam Zuid station)
- Admission is free of charge, no booking required.
- Featuring Imara Thomas & Ernst Munneke; Maria du Toit & Vera Kooper
- With music by Florence Price, Margaret Bonds, Majoie Hajari and Consuelo Velázquez
Imara Thomas
Imara Thomas is a soprano at the Dutch National Opera & Ballet. She has roots in Aruba and the Czech Republic, but grew up in Amsterdam Zuidoost. At the age of just 12, she performed as a soloist with the Promenade Orchestra at Rotterdam’s De Doelen concert hall. She spent the period from 2015 and 2024 at the Deutsche Oper am Rhein. While in Germany, Thomas performed in more than 60 different operas, ranging from baroque to modern. In 2022, she made her début in the Main Hall at Amsterdam’s Royal Concertgebouw with Gershwin’s Summertime from Porgy and Bess. This was followed in 2023 by the concert ‘A night with Caribbean Classics’. She recently performed with the Metropole Orkest at Rotterdam’s Ahoy. Thomas is a soprano whose versatile voice succeeds in forging a bridge at the highest level between classical and contemporary music and between continents and generations.
Ernst Munneke
Pianist Ernst Munneke studied at the Utrecht and Amsterdam conservatories and at the Tanglewood Music Center (US). He specialised in song accompaniment with Rudolf Nelson and attended masterclasses taught by Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau. Munneke has performed in various festivals in the US, Switzerland, Finland, Austria and Italy. He has given concerts across Europe, Mexico and the US (including Carnelian Hall). He served as a repetiteur on the musical staff at the Dutch National Opera in Amsterdam. He also worked as a competition pianist for the International Vocal Competition in Den Bosch and for the acclaimed Belvedere Singing Competition in Vienna.
Du Toit & Kooper
The internationally acclaimed clarinettist Maria du Toit and versatile pianist Vera Kooper have been giving inspirational performances together since 2021. With their exciting interplay, energetic appeal and striking artistic vision, Du Toit & Kooper are one of today’s most exciting chamber music partnerships.
Maria du Toit is a South African/Dutch clarinettist who is very much in demand internationally. She has performed as a soloist with various orchestras across the world and won countless competitions and awards, including the first prize in the international clarinet competition ‘Jeunesses Musicales’ in Bucharest. Du Toit is regularly invited to perform and give masterclasses in the US, Europe, Asia and South Africa. She has also performed world premières of three clarinet concertos that were dedicated to her.
Vera Kooper is an acclaimed Dutch pianist, renowned for her expressive play and impressive instrument control. She co-founded the Delta Piano Trio, which has performed internationally from Europe to the US and Asia. In 2020, she won the prestigious Kersjes Prize (Kersjesprijs). The same year saw the release of Kooper’s debut solo album with works by Beethoven and Corigliano. In 2021 she completed a tour of the Netherlands with Floris Kortie, in the successful theatre production entitled Het jaar 250 na Beethoven.
Orville Breeveld
Orville Breeveld is an international musician, producer, composer, presenter, documentary maker, marketeer and consultant. He is an adviser to Amsterdam’s Royal Concertgebouw Amsterdam and works as a documentary maker and presenter on the documentary series ‘Nieuwe Blik Terug’.
FutureFest
The open-air concert is part of the extensive programme in Zuidas during Amsterdam’s FutureFest (ToekomstTiendaagse), from 12 to 21 June. FutureFest is part of the celebration of 750 years of Amsterdam. Many streets and squares in Zuidas are named after composers, most of them men. In the years ahead, there will be lots more homes and also new street names, with a special focus on female composers. The Surinamese composer Majoie Hajari recently had a street named after her. The concert on 19 June will pay tribute to their work, give meaning to the street names and show how culture, heritage and identity are interconnected.
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