Under the heading ‘Freedom: precious and vulnerable’, there will be a commemoration of the 75 years of freedom after the Second World War at Goeree-Overflakkee and a reflection on freedom in general. The opening is on Saturday 9 April. It consists of three concerts by the pianists Eline de Gast, Paul Stark and Piet Westhoeve and percussionist Michiel Buijsse.

‘Celebrate your Freedom’, as the commemoration was called, should have taken place in 2020: 75 years after the liberation in 1945. The ZIJN Foundation and the Muziekgebouw Goeree-Overflakkee had put together a nice program. But because of corona, that had to stay on the shelf.

Now that the weather is possible, the plans have been brought out and ‘dusted off’. However, the new reality, with the war in Ukraine, also shows that ‘Celebrate your Freedom’ has taken on a different meaning. That is why the title of the commemorative program has been changed to ‘Freedom: precious and vulnerable’. It includes concerts, a music tour of care homes, an exhibition and films.

The opening is on Saturday 9 April in the Rabobankzaal of the Diekhuus. During the three concerts, Eline de Gast, Paul Stark and Piet Westhoeve will play on the three new Petrof pianos of the Muziekgebouw. Michiel Buijsse plays the new percussion instruments, also from the Muziekgebouw. It is special that investments have been made in these beautiful instruments and the introduction to them gives the concerts valuable added value.

The music that the public can expect is in line with the theme ‘Freedom: precious and vulnerable’. The carefully composed program includes solo pieces by Philip Glass, Chopin, Liszt and the Russian composers Glinka and Skriabin. The highlight is a joint performance of a part from Simeon ten Holt’s Canto Ostinato. Constantly singing, even in difficult times – the meaning of Canto Ostinato is all too topical. Paul Stark also plays an improvisation, a form in which it is above all about freedom.