Gert Snijder on the legacy of
Hans Zomer, his late husband
I once made this painting of Hans (bass-baritone and oratorio singer Hans Zomer, ed.). A long time ago, mind you, he wasn't even gray back then, haha. He was always very happy with the painting because he really recognized himself in it. When I met Hans about sixty years ago, he wasn't a singer yet. He had all sorts of side jobs, but hadn't yet found his passion. Until one day, he suddenly walked into the room and said: "I know, I'm going to be a singer." He took singing lessons, entered the world, and a wonderful career followed.'
‘Hans was raised with classical music from day one. It was different in my family; I truly discovered it through Hans. Classical music became our shared passion. There was always music in our house; the record player was on, or we listened to the radio and had a "guess the composer" contest.
Hans also enjoyed organizing concerts at our house to give young, talented musicians a stage. We invited friends and acquaintances, and afterwards we asked everyone to donate. Hans always thought it wasn't enough and would add some extra money. That was Hans to the core; he was incredibly amiable. He believed it was very important to give young talent a chance to develop.’
‘“Hans always loved organizing concertsat our home togive young talented musiciansa place to perform”’
photo: Jeroen Dietz
‘The choice to leave a legacy to The Netherlands Instruments Foundation was therefore obvious to him. Hans passed away in 2021, and thanks to his legacy, the foundation was able to purchase a special Guadagnini violin for Carla Leurs. In memory of Hans, they call it the Zomer-viool. Beautiful, isn't it?’
Check out the Zomer-viool