Opening Night 2024

By opening each consecutive concert season in a different district, the Concertgebouw Orchestra connects with Amsterdam. After the Dam (2021), Westerpark (2022), and the NDSM wharf in Amsterdam-Noord (2023), now the orchestra will visit the Zuidoost district, where it has been organizing the successful crossover series Bijlmer Klassiek with the Bijlmer Parktheater since 2022.

Opening Night 2024 will take the form of a mini-festival, complete with food trucks, thanks to collaborations with local organisations from the Amsterdam-Zuidoost district. From 4.00 p.m., the orchestra will organise an open stage for local talent. From 7.00 to 7.30 p.m., there will be a joint performance by the Leerorkest (‘Learning Orchestra’), the B!Muziekschool, former participants of the summer project Concertgebouworkest Young, and orchestra musicians.

The concert

From 8.15 p.m., the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra will perform under the direction of Andrés Orozco-Estrada. The programme features thrilling works by Richard Strauss, Camille Saint-Saëns, Igor Stravinsky, and Arturo Márquez, as well as recent works by American composer Anna Meredith and Dutch composer Joey Roukens. The well-known Dutch musician, rapper, and singer sor will join the orchestra to perform several of his own songs in new orchestral arrangements.

The Opening Night concert will be broadcast on Saturday, 14 September from 10.30 p.m. by AVROTROS on Dutch national TV channel NPO 2.

Opening Night 2024 is made possible by ING, Unilever, and Booking.com, global partners of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra.