Jan Willem Troost is Korzo’s new music programmer

We have a new music programmer! Starting February the 1^st, we welcome Jan Willem Troost. A familiar face: Jan Willem used to work for Korzo and has often played our venue as cellist in ensemble Modelo62.

Jan Willem is a versatile cellist and a creative spirit: he plays classical, collaborates with composers, theatre makers, choreographers and specialises in Argentinian tango. He played in Carel Kraayenhof's tango ensembles, worked with makers such as Esther Apituley, Roeland Drost and Samir Calixto, has been the cellist in ensemble Modelo62 since 2009 and organised two editions of the Club Brooomm! Festival with performers from modern dance, contemporary classical music, pop music and hip-hop during the Korzo5HOOG period. He also supports makers and cultural organisations in turning their ideas into clear project plans for grant applications.

A dream come true

And the next chapter is becoming Korzo’s new music programmer: ‘a dream come true’, according to Jan Willem. ‘'Korzo has been my favourite place in The Hague for twenty years. I am looking forward to work with the programming team to get even more people excited about music and movement.' Jan Willem loves contemporary music and wants to share his passion with The Hague audiences. 'Contemporary music is an incredibly rich and exciting genre: with influences from past centuries and from all cultures, the possibilities of what is being made now are truly limitless. I myself was captivated by contemporary music when, as an adolescent, I heard something that was totally unexpected, leaving me on the edge of my seat for the entire concert. Everyone recognises such a wow! experience: that you are blown away by something new, impressed by an unfamiliar landscape, or experience a performance that takes you into another reality.’

Telling the right story

He considers 'telling the right story' of contemporary music as one of his tasks as music programmer for Korzo. 'As a discipline, we have an image of making inaccessible music for nerds. We have – amongst many things - ourselves to thank for that. To get more people involved in contemporary music, we need to tell the audience why this piece or a particular concert is so special. It’s not always easy for composers to explain what the listener can expect, so therein I see a task for myself as a programmer. I want to make that connection and translation between the creator and the visitor.' Paying special attention to different audiences is important to Jan Willem. 'I think it's important to involve people for whom being able to do everything is not self-evident: people with a visual impairment, people who are deaf or hard of hearing, or otherwise less able to participate in society. This also provides special experiences for all-rounders and can be an eye-opener on how to experience reality.'

Jan Willem will start as music programmer the 1^st of February. He will join the programme team already consisting of Nitchka Wefers Bettink (programme coordinator), Marc Maris (dance programmer), Mirjam Zwanenburg (programmer Cirque Mania) and Jiaxin Chen (programmer physical theatre).