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Let the Florid Music Praise!

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Soprano Francis van Broekhuizen and pianist Femke de Graaf, like many Vrienden van het Lied others this year, are celebrating a milestone: ‘In 2001 we became a duo and worked together towards our first big concert: Francis’ bachelor’s degree in classical singing at the Conservatory of Amsterdam.’ Their theme at the time – friendship – was incorporated into their program for the anniversary day.

‘We opened that concert with Let The Florid Music Praise! by Benjamin Britten. We also had the Tchaikovsky liedtributes on the program at that time, and Hedgehog's Cradlelied, For that occasion, we have created a second voice. We found the theme of friendship a beautiful way to incorporate into this program in honor of the anniversary of Vrienden van het Lied.

In connection with the theme COLOURS! Francis and Femke have programmed many composers with an LGBTQ+ background. And of course they wanted to give a platform to women, such as Florence Price – a black woman – and Catharina van Rennes, a composer from Utrecht. A line from her famous Sun lied It is written on a plaque on the facade of her residence and singing school in the Brigittenstraat in Utrecht: ‘Faith will keep our hearts safe / Despite rain and storms.’ Colourful is also the presence of many different languages.

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