y e a r 3 - n u m b e r 5 - j u ly 2 0 1 6
Refreshing crossover ‘Totally unexpected and exciting’ – that
liams arrangement and klezmer music
We normally sing a cappella. But with
tet made up of musicians of the Royal
started off standing around the audience
like one big celebration. So much sound!
was the performance given by a quinConcertgebouw Orchestra and the sin-
gers from the Kobra Ensemble at the
Salon concert on 8 June. An evening between smiles and rapture.
Salon members and partners are well accustomed to crossover: whether it’s clas-
sical meets jazz, cabaret or pop music, chances are they’ve been there before. But the performance in the Recital Hall gi-
ven by the Kobra Ensemble and a clarinet
by Alexander Krein. The Kobra Ensemble singing an intense Finnish traditional song. From the outset, it was clear this
wasn’t going to be any ordinary concert.
singer Saskia Voorbach said after the
been invited by one of the young profes-
ten specially for the occasion,’ Kobra
A young woman in the audience who had
performance. ‘Tonight was our first per-
sionals said, ‘The exchange between the
formance of the arrangement of Stromae’s “Tous les mêmes”, for example. We enjoyed every minute of that.’
audience was made up of members of the
ensembles performed back to back, but
orchestra was a real crowd-pleaser. The
At the beginning of the evening, the two
business community – including two new
eventually took to the stage together in
The Sound of Leadership programme.
WRITTEN SPECIALLY FOR THE OCCASION The quintet, featuring clarinettist Hein Wiedijk, violinists Jelena Ristic and Chris-
tian van Eggelen, violist Roland Krämer and cellist Julia Tom, performed works including an accessible Vaughan Wil-
What an atmosphere of openness!’
DYNAMIC
LEIDSEPLEIN
professionals concluding their last day of
We felt lifted up by the instrumentalists.
‘Some of the arrangements were writ-
quintet consisting of musicians from the
sponsors, CBRE and Arcadis – and young
the ensemble from the orchestra, it felt
arrangements of music by Béla Bartók and Leonard Bernstein, as well as the encore ‘Als op het Leidseplein de lichtjes weer
eens branden gaan’ (When the Lights at
Leidseplein Shine Again), a song popular during the occupation of the Netherlands in the Second World War. Needless to say,
it wasn’t exactly a sampling of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra’s standard fare.
ONE BIG CELEBRATION ‘For us, too, it was a new experience,’ sin-
gers Lea Klarenbeek and Saskia Voorbach said, ‘even though we’re used to pushing the boundaries. We found it all very moving – after all, it’s music about love, Am-
sterdam… Programming this evening’s concert, we deliberately chose a more folk-like dimension, and it worked well. 1
instrumentalists and the singers was brilliant. It made the concert so dynamic. I’ve
personally never attended a Salon event
before. Earlier I thought, “Listening to classical music after a long, hard day at
the office… Won’t I fall asleep?” But this was fantastic. I’d just never experienced anything like it before.’
Singapore: a first For the very first time since it was founded 128 years ago, the Royal Concertge-
bouw Orchestra is giving a concert in Singapore. The orchestra will be performing in the legendary city under the ba-
ton of its new chief conductor, Daniele Gatti, on 23 January 2017.
The concert is part of the orchestra’s tour of Asia in early 2017, during which it will also be stopping off in Shanghai and Bei-
jing. Naturally, there are opportunities to
travel with the orchestra or to welcome your local business associates. For more information, please contact Jan Meddens at j.meddens@concertgebouworkest.nl or on +31 (0)20 305 1010.
global partner
global partner
preferred airline
local partner
royal concertgebouw orchestra amsterdam asia tour 2017
Coming up: international concerts
SAFE AND COMFORTABLE Our official carrier KLM takes us
safely and comfortably to every far-
flung corner of the world. And on this occasion to the Far East. We’re proud of our Royal travel partner.
Dublin, 27 August 2016
Bratislava, 19 November 2016
Lucerne, 28 August 2016
Vienna, 20 November 2016
Lucerne, 29 August 2016
Washington, 29 November 2016
Salzburg, 30 August 2016
New York, 30 November 2016
Ljubljana, 1 September 2016
London, 16 December 2016
Grafenegg, 2 September 2016
London, 17 December 2016
Amsterdam/Opening Night,
Cologne, 5 January 2017
9 September 2016
Shanghai, 18 January 2017
Paris, 14 October 2016
Shanghai, 19 January 2017
Dortmund, 15 October 2016
Beijing, 20 January 2017
Brussels, 23 October 2016
Singapore, 23 January 2017
Luxembourg, 24 October 2016
Antwerp, 17 March 2017
Torino, 25 October 2016
Frankfurt, 31 March 2017
Athens, 26 October 2016
Brussels, 1 April 2017
Vienna, 18 November 2016
Paris, 4 May 2017
2
Partners from Amsterdam to Shanghai When he lived and worked in China, Geert Potjewijd, managing partner at De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek, attended multiple performances by the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra with his business associates. He says, ‘The orchestra is truly the Netherlands’ calling card – and a very good one at that.’ ‘The Chinese middle and upper classes are
all over the world. ‘As luck would have it,
five languages between them. Obviously,
Chinese people are travelling and studying
we have a presence, such as New York
mount importance to us as well.’
growing very quickly,’ says Geert. ‘More abroad now, and many international or-
chestras go to China to give concerts there.
As a result, more and more Chinese people are growing up with music and are exposed to Western classical music in particular.
The RCO has an outstanding reputation there, which is unique. When an admired and appreciated institution comes from
the Netherlands to visit your city, you feel
a real sense of pride. When we were living
there, I remember feeling that way about the Dutch national football team, the Van Gogh Museum and, of course, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra.’
ATTRACTION ‘Together with some of my business as-
sociates, I attended the 2012 concerts the orchestra gave in Shanghai and Beijing, as
well as its World Tour concert in Beijing in 2013. Every concert I attended was comple-
tely sold out. The Beijing Concert Hall is a stunning attraction in its own right.’
ROYAL FRIESLANDCAMPINA Surprisingly, the main reason De Brauw became a partner of the Royal Concert-
gebouw Orchestra is not that it performs
the orchestra does travel to cities where and Frankfurt, and in Asia, Shanghai
intercultural communication is of para-
and Singapore. In China, we had dealings
PARTNER
landCampina, which has long been active
ge, as Geert’s wife discovered in China.
with the Dutch dairy cooperative Fries-
Music facilitates intercultural exchan-
in South-East Asia, when we supported
Geert explains: ‘She played the violin in
them in setting up a joint venture with a Chinese counterpart. We run into them, too, in the concert hall.’ FrieslandCampi-
na is also one of the Royal Concertgebouw
Orchestra’s local partners during its 2017 tour of Asia. Indeed, more and more com-
panies are discovering the potential the orchestra’s network offers.
INTERNATIONAL Geert continues, ‘As organisations, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra and De
the Beijing International Chamber Orchestra, which eventually grew to be-
come an orchestra in which both expat and Chinese musicians played. That’s
more surprising than you might think, mainly because the Chinese and Wester-
ners generally spend their leisure time in very different ways. Playing together in
an orchestra is the perfect way to make contact. After the first rehearsal, you’ve instantly got sixty new friends.’
Brauw have a lot in common. Our firm
AMSTERDAM
selecting its musicians, whose enthusi-
certgebouw Orchestra’s upcoming con-
shares the orchestra’s drive for quality in
Geert won’t be attending the Royal Con-
asm and passion are also very impressive.
certs in China at the beginning of 2017
The orchestra’s international ambition is very appealing as well. The RCO is made up of such an international group of play-
ers and in that respect is ahead of us. Having said that, we’re well on our way,
employing 350 lawyers representing twen-
ty-two nationalities and speaking twenty3
for the simple fact that he has since re-
turned home to the Netherlands. ‘But my colleagues in Shanghai and Singa-
pore will certainly be attending,’ he says.
‘And now I’ll be able to hear the orchestra
again in Amsterdam. No matter where, it’s always a great night out.’
CBRE: the orchestra’s new partner
‘All of a sudden, the penny dropped’ Completely unsuspecting, Marco Hek-
man attended his very first Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra concert while
listed among the names of the orchestra’s corporate partners.
INVITATIONS
vices firm CBRE was utterly convinced
joys a sterling reputation in Asia, which
naging director of the real estate ser-
‘The Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra en-
that this was the perfect sponsorship
is terrific considering that the Singapore
as they say, is history.
‘It was back in November 2015,’ Marco re-
calls. ‘I was in Tokyo on business, and an
associate at Loyens & Loeff had invited me to a Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra
concert. I didn’t even know the orchestra
was in town. There I sat in the hall, and all of a sudden, the penny dropped. The-
re are few sponsorship opportunities in
concert is coming up. But we also want to invite our German, UK and of course
meet new contacts. At the concert I atten-
SEPTEMBER
lever and Loyens & Loeff, and I wondered
been to all sorts of concerts. He says he will
the perfect opportunity to network and ded in Tokyo, I saw people from ING, Uni-
He and his business contacts have now
“Why didn’t we think of this before?”’
definitely be attending Opening Night on
to be the worldwide leader in real estate
70,000 people worldwide. ‘Our size is ap-
services. The RCO is among the top three
pealing to young talent. And the same is
season (2016–17), CBRE will officially be
professionals from other large companies.’
of this before?
CBRE is a real estate giant employing
on.’ And that was that. Starting from next
also gives them the chance to meet young
how much they mean to us. They’re also
to events like these let us show them just
vel of ambition as CBRE has. Our aim is
people, fits perfectly with our organisati-
out of their comfort zone. The programme
Why didn’t we think
YOUNG TALENT
image, supported by passionate, talented
ton themselves, which means stepping
Dutch associates to concerts. Invitations
the Netherlands that reflect the same le-
orchestras in the world. That professional
Jan Raes in particular, but also about the participants taking up the conductor’s ba-
in Tokyo. Within five minutes, the ma-
opportunity for his company. The rest,
introduction given by Managing Director
true of the RCO, which also attracts talent from all over the world. One of our own
young talents is currently taking part in
the Young Professionals Programme and has been very enthusiastic – about the 4
9 September, when Daniele Gatti will officially assume the post of chief conductor,
and CBRE will become an official partner of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra.
The Sound of Leadership
Developing skills and gaining an invaluable network No matter which one of them you ask, all
this year’s participants in The Sound of Leadership say it’s a really great group. Besides a new network, the programme
offers young professionals the chance to further develop their leadership qualities. ‘It just happened at the right time.’
‘Someone forwarded an email to me about The Sound of Leadership programme be-
cause I’m team leader with the Learning
& Development Department at ING,’ says Petra Bakker. The original aim, she ex-
plains, was to see whether there were any
candidates who might be suitable to take part. ‘I really enjoyed the TV show Maestro, and was getting more and more in-
terested in classical music. So I thought, “I’m going to do this myself.” It just hap-
pened at the right time and gave me the immediate opportunity to find out who would be a good fit for the training.’
METAPHOR ‘It was fascinating to hear the orchestra’s
managing director Jan Raes talk about
Toonaangevend’, a book which looks at what businesses can learn from institutions like the Royal Concertgebouw Or-
chestra. ‘The orchestra’s main aim is to produce quality. We had several conver-
is quite a sad piece. The only problem was
to participate in the programme. In fact,
with the players. The orchestra really is
thusiastic that day, so I had to bring my
fun, especially when you see how much
sations about this within the group and the perfect metaphor for leadership and groups. It’s obvious right from the start how making music of this calibre is like a
professional sport and how passionate the musicians are about their job. Then we
were asked, “Do all of you have that same
kind of passion about your work?” I went all goosey at that point. I suddenly had a
that I was feeling really cheerful and en-
mood more in line with the aesthetics of the piece. I quickly connect with people, and I think that came across in my con-
ducting, too. Our group was so much fun, I couldn’t believe it. Giving and receiving
personality emerged right away. I had to go first, so there was no one I could copy. I’d chosen to conduct the Bach Air, which
chestra. It’s fascinating to see.’
me open exclusively to young profes-
says, ‘I got the most out of the coaching
teresting, too, is that each participant’s
dent, but they still play together in an or-
COACHING
UNBELIEVABLY FUN
outside our comfort zone. What was in-
very open, yet at the same time indepen-
THE SOUND OF LEADERSHIP 2017
Brian Goldman van Accenture also found
king up the baton. ‘We all had to step
the musicians give of themselves. They’re
feedback was really easy.’
much deeper awareness of my work.’
Petra Bakker says she’ll never forget ta-
I’d recommend it to anyone. It’s a lot of
the group interaction very important. He and personal feedback from the other participants and trainers. I’ve always regularly attended concerts at the Concertgebouw,
and play the piano and guitar as well. It’s important to understand, though, that a person really doesn’t need to know any-
thing at all about classical music in order 5
The Sound of Leadership is a programsionals who are Salon members and partners. It’s an outstanding training programme in which participants le-
arn to further develop their leadership skills. To learn more, please contact
Jan Meddens at j.meddens@concertgebouworkest.nl or on +31 (0)20 305 1010.
See page 6 for an overview of all the Salon activities taking place during the 2016–17 season.
A busy Salon season in store From major events like RCO Opening Night and the RCO SalonBal to an
intimate concert in the Recital Hall, a busy Salon year is in store. The season features superb concerts offering you the perfect opportunity to fête your
Academy students earned certificate
business associates. Be sure to make a note of these Salon
On 22 June, all the orchestra’s Academy
9 September 2016, RCO Opening Night
cate by Joel Ethan Fried, Deputy Director
events now in your diary:
students were awarded with their certifiof Artistic Affairs. Hornist Martijn Appe-
2 October 2016, Family Concert
lo, violinists Alexa Farré and Lilit Pogho-
Late October 2016, Prix de Salon
syan, cellist Boris Nedialkov, flautist José-
1 February 2017, Salon Crossover Evening in the Recital Hall
phine Olech, violist Sofie van der Schalie
16 March 2017, Concert preceded by private reception
and double bassist Benjamin Ziai have all
19 May 2017, RCO SalonBal: Dancing in the Main Hall
Corporate team welcomes new member
successfully concluded their year at the Academy. Congratulations! This year, the
Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra Academy is made possible in part by De Salon.
finland
Charlie dos Reis Borges Rodrigues will
team will be overseeing all corporate
as a new corporate partnerships account
Charlie, the corporate team will then
soon be joining the Corporate Department manager.
She and the other members of the
partnerships
and
De
Salon.
sweden estonia
Besides
latvia ireland
DEN mark
lithuania
united kingdom
consist of Jan Meddens, Rike Blom and
nethe rlands belgi um
Gerdine Niemans.
poland
germany
czech republic
luxembo urg
slovakia
austria france
hungary romania slovenia croatia
italy Spain
bulgaria
greece
portugal
cy prus
mal ta
A tour of all 28 EU states celebrating the past, present and future of Europe www.concertgebouworkest.nl/europe
colofon
Simon Van Holen releases CD Good news about the Prix de Salon 2013! Double bassoonist Simon Van Holen is relea-
sing a CD of solo works for his instrument entitled Pro contra. In 2014, the musician caused a sensation among Salon members and partners with the world premiere of a new composition written specially for him. The album features a variety of works for his instrument.
RCO Corporate is a publication of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra for its corporate contacts both in the Netherlands and abroad. contact Jan Meddens head of corporate partnerships T +31 (0)20 305 1010 j.meddens@concertgebouworkest.nl Charlie dos Reis Borges Rodrigues accountmanager corporate partnership, including De Salon. T +31 (0)20 305 1010 c.reisborges@concertgebouworkest.nl
global partners of the royal concertgebouw orchestra
partners of the royal concertgebouw orchestra
6
photos Anne Dokter, Mladen Pikulic´, Peter Tollenaar text and editing Irene Bloemink translation Ian Gaukroger design Atelier Rene Knip & Rens Martens