Events

Music by Ter Veldhuis, Reich, Dorman, Picqueur, Y’skid & Verstraten

It was a tremendous success at the opening concert of the TROMP 2018 festival: breakdance merging into ballet, a concert band becoming a hip-hop orchestra and intimate percussion sounds developing into energetic beats. TROMP 2014 winner Dominique Vleeshouwers invited TROMP 2018 winner Emil Kuyumcuyan to join him on stage with Eindhoven’s renowned breakdance crew The Ruggeds and the winner of the European Championship for wind orchestras St. Michaël van Thorn. 

<sup>"An evening where we explore the old and new Dutch street culture and a place where western classical music meets street music from all over the world. That pretty much sums up this project Marching & Breakin’, one of the biggest challenges in my career so far.

Marching & Breakin’ all started in the streets of Senegal. On the first night in Dakar we already joined a street party filled with drummers, dancers and hundreds of people. I did not have any clue how to play this music, but our teacher smiled at me and said, “Just play, welcome to Dakar.” And the drummers didn’t seem to have any stress: they play, they earn money, they spend it, and the next day comes. Simple as that.

After I returned home from this trip, I kept thinking why we have created this crazy, busy way of life, and why many of us sometimes get stuck in our own thoughts. I realized that the physicality of drumming and dancing in Senegal helped me release energy and feel more grounded. Meeting people while making music and dancing on the streets inspired me to enjoy life in the here and now. I started to wonder what the street culture of The Netherlands was and if that could give me that lively feeling I found in Senegal again, which I hope you will get to experience tonight.

Marching & Breakin’ is not only about juxtaposing the old and the new street culture of The Netherlands. It is also about professional musicians meeting this wonderful wind band, working with the coolest Breakdance crew, collaborating with a professional stage director and super creative scenographers, composers, arrangers, and high performing amateur musicians. It provides a platform where different groups in society gather and enrich each other's life by working together and listening to one another.

To be able to present Marching & Breakin’ in this hall during the TROMP Opening Night is such a great honour; four years ago I performed in this same beautiful concert hall in the final round of the 2014 TROMP competition, and since then this venue has become a second home to me. I have cherished every minute of working on this project since day 1, and I am very happy that tonight you will witness and experience the result of an amazing team who has worked for months on this project.

I would like to thank everyone who has been a part of this journey with me, and Muziekgebouw Eindhoven and TROMP for making this amazing project possible.

Enjoy and have a wonderful evening!"</sup>

Dominique Vleeshouwers
concept & artistieke leiding

Vincent van Kekerix producent
Marianne Rübsaam producent
Claudia Hansen director of photography

Thanks to support from:

Provincie Noord-Brabant

EMOVES Festival

Adams Musical Instruments

Muziekgebouw Eindhoven