CREA’s Orchestra: ‘It ends with a party!’

CREA’s Orchestra: ‘It ends with a party!’

On the 25th of June CREA’s orchestra ended their tour in the Dominicuskerk. They played six overtures by Dvořák, Wagner, Wagenaar and Gershwin. The ending of their performance, Gershwin’s Cuban Overture, resulted in a swinging party filled with happy faces!

The orchestra played three pieces by Dvořák, advice that their conductor Bas Pollard gave. ‘There is this red thread running through the overtures. It is a cycle of nature, life and love. Three versions of primal energy, one outside, the other around you and the last within you’, Bas Pollard explains. However, most surprising and different from the rest is their performance of Gershwin’s Cuban Overture. ‘We thought it might be nice to have some really happy and intense ending. A party at the end’, trumpet player and chair of the orchestra Victor Zumpolle shares.

Having just finished his 34th season at the CREA orchestra, Bas Pollard has seen many traditions come and go. A current tradition is that before the orchestra starts playing, he makes sure to look at everyone: ‘I really want to have a bit of contact before starting to play’, he explains. So, before the orchestra starts playing ‘In Nature’s Realm’ by Dvořák, the audience, filled with anticipation, waits a moment.

What this little tradition shows, is that the orchestra truly has a special bond with one another. Cellist Anne de Boer is leaving the orchestra after six years and she explains that CREA really is a place where everyone is welcome; a home. The musicians refer to this special place as the ‘CREA Beast’, which is reflected in their performance as well. While this beast does not have an exact definition, ‘it is not something I can or want to define’, Victor explains, you hear it in their music. ‘The enthusiasm, happiness and joy with which we play, that is, I think, the CREA beast’, Victor shares with a smile on his face after the concert. And as the joyful percussion sounds reverberate in our ears while leaving the church, we can’t help but think, that Victor has hit the nail on the head.  

Photographer: Catherine Vu

The CREA orchestra is going on tour in Germany and the Czech Republic this summer. Click here, to learn more.