By Roy Lie A Tjam.
The IWC’s Hon. President Henriette van Aartsen, its current President Barbara Couwenbergh, and the IWC Board invited Roland Kieft, artistic director of the Reidentie Orkest, to their monthly meeting in order to give a lecture.
Roland Kieft was accompanied by a musical duo of the Residenditie Orkest. The event took place at the World Bel Air Hotel The Hague on 9 November 2015.
Het Residentie Orkest, The Hague Philharmonic, is based in The Hague. Henri Viotta founded the orchestra in 1904, and in 2014 it celebrated its 110th anniversary in the presence of H.M King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima.
The orchestra plays a vital role in major events in the cultural life of the city of The Hague, notably at the annual Prinsjesdag concert, The Hague Africa Festival, and the centenary of the Peace Palace. The orchestra has recently moved from the center of town to the Zuiderstrand Theater, a beautiful location in the dunes of Scheveningen.
During his IWC Lecture, Kieft elaborated on the role of musical conductor, vividly explaining the long road leading to conductorship. Passion, motivation, discipline and thousands of hours of practice are imperative. He also stressed the connection between art and classical music – the primordial role of a philharmonic orchestra conductor. A conductor is a coordinator; he needs to connect.
The principal conductors of the R.O are Jan Willem de Vriend (NL) and Nicholas Collon (UK). Also worth mentioning are the 31,000 students who participate annually in educational projects, and a new initiative has been lunched this year, the Symphonic Senior. There is also a family concert.
Kieft grew up in an artistic family, and studied cello at the Royal Conservatory The Hague. He graduated from the Utrecht Conservatorium and Tangle Wood, USA, and is an alumnus of Leonard Bernstein. Kieft has conducted nearly all the symphony orchestras in the Netherlands, and in the 80’s and 90’s he played an active role in the Dutch Student Orchestra.
Kieft has worked around the world, including East Berlin, France, the USA, and St. Petersburg, Africa and Japan.
Since his appointment as artistic director in 2012, Kieft has successfully navigated the Residentie Orkest out of a difficult period of austerity. Today, the 87-strong Residentie Orkest is a thriving musical power-plant.
