The conservative Netherlands
Lestari Scholtes and Gwylim Janssens, also known as the Scholtes & Janssens Piano duo, founded the Pianoduo Festival Amsterdam five years ago with the idea to provide the Netherlands more Piano duo music. “In the Netherlands, the genre piano duo is not such a serious business as in countries like Germany, Japan and Israel”, starts Lestari. “For example, for string quartets there is the string quartet academy and there are several concert series. For the genre piano duo, there were no such things yet, even though playing as a piano duo is at least as intensive as playing in a string quartet.”
“In the Netherlands, concert programming for piano duo music is a bit conservative”, agrees Gwylim. “Often, the well-known classics are being requested, like Milhaud’s Scaramouche, Ravel’s La Valse or Schubert’s Fantasy. You will hear these pieces during the Pianoduo Festival Amsterdam, but we also try to broaden the programming. The genre provides a lot more artistic possibilities than the classics.”
The duo understands what could have caused this Dutch conservatism. “Unlike Germany, the Netherlands has never been a typical country of classical music. All famous composers were born in other countries. That’s why we lag the countries around us. Here, playing as a piano duo is often considered as ‘cozy behind the piano together’. Playing together is fun, of course, but the professional side of the genre implies so much more than that”, says Lestari.
“Its is a serious business”, continues Gwylim. “For a long time, Wyneke Jordans and Leo van Doeselaar, were one of the few Dutch pianists that took the genre seriously. On contrary, in Germany there are much more professional piano duos and even competing education programs. That’s beneficial for the genre. Without competence, you wander around in a niche market.”
Positive development
Both pianists are glad to see that the genre got a boost in the Netherlands during the last years. “Programming piano duo music in chamber music series or piano series still isn’t common practice, but that is changing slowly”, notices Gwylim. “The Pianoduo Festival Amsterdam has probably played a role in that development, but there are also other duos, like Arthur and Lucas Jussen, that do the genre a big favor. Fortunately, the market becomes broader and broader. We see that Dutch concert halls now invite foreign artists that had their Dutch debut on the Pianoduo Festival Amsterdam.”
Lestari continues: “Nowadays, programmers of big concert halls even ask us for advice about good piano duos. I also notice that the audience knows more and more about the genre, its broad repertoire and its level of difficulty. I’m glad that the Pianoduo Festival Amsterdam can contribute to this development.”
Hopeful, but no expectations
That the festival would become such successful, was not something that Lestari and Gwylim had expected. “Actually, we didn’t know what to expect. We did know that if we could stay on track for five years, we would have done a pretty good job. However, we had no clue what those five years could look like,” says Gwylim.
“We always aim for the highest possible level”, continues Lestari. “We both were eager to make this a success. It had to be of high quality and interesting for the audience, of course. That was also the biggest uncertainty. We just didn’t know if the audience would like it and if someone would even visit the festival. No wonder that the enormous expansion of the festival, mainly during the first three years, came as a big surprise for us.”
From pioneering to a well-oiled machine
“The preparations for the first festival felt like pioneering,” says Gwylim. “We had hardly any experience in setting up a large project like this. There’s no such thing as Organizing festivals for dummies, we really had to reinvent the wheel now and then. During the past several years, we have learned a lot, and we continuously try to professionalize the festival further, based on all feedback that we receive.”
Nowadays the preparations run like a well-oiled machine. “When we’re still busy with the evaluation and financial finalization of the past festival, we’re making plans for the coming years already”, explains Lestari. “We keep thinking about what we’d like to show the audience, and how to combine that in a well-varied programming. As soon as we have decided on the artistic framework, we start to write our project plan. Next, we carry on with fundraising, inviting musicians and creating the production plan. Most of this work is being done by the two of us, but we have some valuable advisors, like Marcel Baudet, the director of the Young Pianist Foundation. Especially during the first editions of the festival, his expertise was of great added value for us.”
Continuous production
Once the festival has started, the work isn’t done yet. “Five years ago, the festival days were pretty chaotic for us”, Gwylim remembers. “We did not have a team yet, so Lestari and I did basically everything ourselves, like selling tickets, pouring drinks and guiding both the artists and the visitors. We nearly had time to set up the concert hall for the next event. Nowadays, things look very different. Most of the day we’re in the office. From there we monitor the ticket sales, we maintain contact with our guests, like press contacts and sponsors, we answer questions from the artists, volunteers and visitors, and we continuously discuss the details of the day with our producer. Everything must look perfect before a concert starts.”
“On top of that, it’s important to us to welcome both the artists and visitors personally,” continues Lestari. “Like no other, we know how it feels to play a concert somewhere. To perform well, you must feel relaxed. The same counts for the audience: everybody must feel welcome, and we’d love to get to know our audience.”
And then, when finally the stage light comes on… “Even at that moment, plenty of tasks are being fulfilled in the background, hopefully unnoticeable for the audience. The production is a continuous process”, says Gwylim. “Also, the finalization of a festival day is an important moment to us. We discuss with all volunteers what we have learned, and what we can do better the next day. Of course, there’s also time to celebrate another successful day. And even if the day was not as successful as expected, it remains an important moment to reflect and to set a positive vibe for the next day.”
A toast on the first lustrum
This year, the festival’s theme is ‘Na Zdorowje!’. “That’s a popular Russian term for ‘cheers’”, explains Gwylim. “It’s a reference to our first lustrum. This year, we have a lot of Russian music from well-known and lesser known composers, like Stravinsky, Rachmaninoff, Tchaikovsky and the contemporary, somewhat jazzy composer Rosenblatt. You won’t hear Russian music during all events, but that provides interesting contrasts in the programming.”
For example, during the Lustrum concert the duo plays the Concerto for two pianos and orchestra from the French composer Poulenc. “That piece fits perfectly in the festivities of the lustrum. We’ve been thinking a lot about how to bring a musical toast to this memorable moment. There’s no other double concert that’s more festive than Poulenc’s”, says Lestari confidently.
On the way to the next lustrum
If it’s up to Lestari and Gwylim, this first lustrum is only a start. “We have ambitions for years to come”, says Gwylim enthusiastic. “There are so many pieces that are interesting for this festival, and there are also a lot of subgenres that we haven’t even touched yet, like baroque music on modern pianos, or music for piano and percussion. This year, for example, we have a concert that focusses on avant-gardistic and post avant-gardistic music. Furthermore, there are possibilities for cultural cross-overs, like the Duo Dinner Concert this year.”
“I hope to see the festival become a necessity during the next five years”, says Lestari, “something that the audience will look forward to all year long. We think that the number of events during the festival does not have to increase necessarily. I do hope, however, that we can welcome an increasing number of visitors and that duos from all over the world will keep performing during the festival.”
“We managed to maintain the festival for five years, during a difficult time for the cultural sector”, says Gwylim. “I think we have the right to be very proud on that. Of course, we cannot foresee the developments in the cultural sector during the years to come, but if we achieve ten years of Pianoduo Festival Amsterdam, we’re definitely going to make it a party again.”
