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Music Cruises
For those who have yet to join us on a Kirker Music Festival at Sea, you have a wonderful experience to look forward to. We have been sailing on Fred. Olsen’s Black Watch, with carefully selected groups of musicians, for over a decade and every year brings a new and unique combination of music and place. The Kirker party make up a small proportion of the total guests on board, and we enjoy our own programme of exclusive concerts interviews and talks, which are not open to the rest of the passengers. Perhaps the highlight for many guests is the opportunity not only to enjoy wonderful performances by world class musicians, but to meet the individual performers themselves, over drinks at our Kirker cocktail parties, before and after the concerts, and at dinner, when we all dine together in the excellent restaurant.
ART & MUSIC IN THE LOW COUNTRIES
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a seven night cruise from southampton | 17 march 2020 Southampton – North Sea Canal – Amsterdam – Rotterdam (for The Hague and Delft) – Ghent – Antwerp – Southampton
A highlight of this cruise is that we will be able to visit major and important art cites without having to make long journeys between them. Instead, we will explore Ghent, Antwerp, The Hague, Delft and Amsterdam on short shore excursions from the Black Watch; as with the concerts, it is as if the art and music are coming to you rather than viceversa! 2020 is the perfect year to visit Ghent with the completion of the second phase of the restoration of the Ghent Altarpiece – the ‘Adoration of the Mystic Lamb’. When the restored side panels are back in place, this masterpiece will be ready to impress and move visitors again as it has done since its completion in 1432.
the Itinerary – optional excursions
Sailing through the Channel into the North Sea overnight we will journey along the North Sea Canal to Amsterdam where the Black Watch will remain overnight. There will be an optional visit to see the unmatched collection of Dutch art at the Rijksmuseum and also to the Van Gogh Museum where over 200 paintings and drawings are on display. We continue to Rotterdam where we will be offering an opportunity to visit the lovely town of Delft made famous by Vermeer’s ‘View of Delft’. We will also visit The Hague to see the art collection at the Mauritshuis, one of the finest collections anywhere. Next comes Ghent which in 2020 will be celebrating the renovations of the Van Eyck brothers’ ‘The Adoration of the Mystic Lamb’ in St. Bavo’s Cathedral. Finally, in Antwerp we will visit the house where Reubens lived. We will also see one of his finest works, the altarpiece at Antwerp Cathedral.
The Aquinas Piano Trio
music & MUSICIANS
The Aquinas Piano Trio will give five concerts on board. Formed in 2009, the trio is made up of Martin Cousin, piano, Ruth Rogers, violin and Katherine Jenkinson, cello. They will be joined in one concert by the viola player Simon Rowland-Jones. Piano trios by Haydn, Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Rachmaninov, Saint-Saens and Rowland-Jones will be performed alongside sonatas for violin, cello and piano. The musicians will also be invited to share their favourite piece with us during their talks with Barry Cheeseman. Ger van den Munckhof will give two illustrated talks on Dutch and Flemish art. He will also accompany you on the optional excursions which will be available in the cities we visit.
