Well-being:
End-of-Year Matches
Unfortunately, we have no influence over “Peace on Earth,” but fortunately, we do have influence over “Goodwill toward men.” For last year’s holidays, we were once again able to bring some light and warmth to a number of refugee musicians. To the donor, it may sometimes seem like a small gesture, but for the refugee, the impact is often enormous and long-lasting!
Dreams
Nataliya (53) is actually a violinist, but she now works in production. She was forced to flee during the first skirmishes in eastern Ukraine in 2014, and she has barely played since then. She now lives on a cruise ship in Arnhem, but she is still deeply affected by the war. And that’s understandable: her husband is fighting on the front lines in Bakhmut. Whether she’ll ever be able to return to her former level as a violinist remains to be seen, but in these difficult times, the gift of a good violin is a source of comfort for her.
Hanin (25) is from Syria and has been playing the guitar since she was twelve. When she fled Syria, she was in her fourth year of study at the Conservatory in Damascus. She now also lives on a large cruise ship—but on the outskirts of Amsterdam. Thanks to the donation of a good guitar, she hopes to make her dream come true: continuing her studies, now in the Netherlands.
Young talent keeps playing
Erkam is 18 years old, comes from Turkey, and lives with his family in Leidschendam. He took a guitar course in Turkey for a few months, but when he had to flee the country, he went two years without an instrument. During that time, he realized how important music is to him, especially for relieving stress. Erkam is immensely grateful to the Musical Instrument Fund and is determined to make up for lost time.
Svjatoslav, already a very accomplished percussionist at age 10, had to start playing a melodic instrument as part of his (online) music studies. He chose a saxophone, and fortunately, we were able to help him out. In the small room in a former office building in Utrecht, where he lives with his mother (bunk bed, desk, drum set, xylophone, clothes racks), that saxophone barely fit...
Oleksandra (18) and Volodymyr (14) are both participating in the Reach Out Program at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam. Oleksandra plays the violin (including in the Amsterdam Youth Symphony Orchestra) and the piano. Volodymyr plays the guitar and a little piano as well (and he thinks photos are lame, but that’s pretty common at that age…). With the help of this keyboard, they can also navigate their music theory classes more easily.
My own pop-up studio
Some time ago, we put out a call for a bandura, a traditional Ukrainian stringed instrument. Against all odds, one turned up quickly. It was likely of good quality, but the strings were rusty and in need of replacement. There isn’t yet a bandura repair workshop in the Netherlands, but Amaliia (for whom we previously had a mandolin custom-built) managed to get her hands on some new strings, so we’ve sort of started our own pop-up workshop. We hope to show and share the results soon. A donation of a “dombra” (a type of lute from Kazakhstan) was, of course, a perfect fit for Amaliia, given her great talent for all stringed instruments and for folk music.
More information
The “Keep Playing: Instruments for Refugee Musicians” campaign is supported by Het Cultuurfonds. Would you like to read more about this emergency relief campaign by Het Muziekinstrumentenfonds and find out how you can contribute?
Read more here