THE VU ORCHESTRA
The VU Orchestra was founded in 1962 as the student orchestra of the Free University of Amsterdam, but has been an independent association since 2014.
The orchestra was founded by Berthe Smit and was led from the beginning by conductor Otto Klap. Daan Admiraal took over in 1975 and led the orchestra until the summer of 2018. During this period, what began as a small chamber orchestra grew into one of the largest and pioneering symphonic student orchestras in the Netherlands. The musicians’ commitment to the orchestra grew, and the association became an important social and cultural experience for many. Today, the orchestra is led by Arjan Tien, who was elected chief conductor of the orchestra in September 2021.
The VU Orchestra is an association that prioritizes musical development and social connection. In addition, important goals of the orchestra are to achieve a high musical level and to offer students a place where they can make friends for life and enjoy activities built around making music, to create wonderful memories together. These include activities such as get-togethers, sailing weekends, Christmas dinners, ice skating and the annual tradition of the crazy summer tour. Recent years have included visits to England, Serbia, Estonia, Italy, Germany and France.
At the social level, the VU Orchestra’s ambition is to make music accessible to a wider audience. The orchestra regularly organizes concerts that appeal not only to university students, but also to the broader Amsterdam community. Through its performances, which often cover a wide range of classical music genres, the orchestra contributes to the cultural enrichment of the city. The VU Orchestra also encourages an inclusive approach to music. The society is not only open to conservatory students, but welcomes musicians of different levels and fields of study. This makes the orchestra an inclusive and diverse community in which collaboration and mutual respect are key.
The repertoire is curated by the program committee. This committee consists of several orchestra members and the conductor. When composing the program, the wishes of the other orchestra members are carefully taken into account. In addition, aspects such as ‘renewal’ and ‘challenge’ play an important role in the selection. Every six months a new program is rehearsed and performed during a concert series.
In addition to its own programming, the VU Orchestra often accompanies choirs and soloists. In recent years, for example, the orchestra provided the accompaniment for the Meezing Messiah in Theater Carré and performed the opera La Bohème with the Nederlandse Reisopera during its 60th anniversary. Furthermore, in the past the orchestra has accompanied soloists such as Janine Jansen, Jaap van Zweden, Ivo Janssen, Querine Viersen, Amihai Grosz and Pieter Wispelwey, among others.
Last winter, members performed at the Stadsgehoorzaal Leiden and Het Concertgebouw Amsterdam with Mahler’s frenzied Ninth Symphony on the lecterns. In the summer the orchestra will play Bernstein’s Candide Overture, Dvorak’s The Wild Dove and Brahms’ Piano Quartet in g minor with orchestration by Schoenberg. With a beautiful tour to Poland, we have a wonderful summer ahead of us.
(Photo by Veerle Bastiaanssen)
