Are you thinking of including the Concertgebouw Orchestra in your will?
Hanna Philips would be happy to discuss the various options with you.
An extension of life
Johnny ten Theije and Theo Soons are enthusiastic music lovers and art collectors. They decided to leave a large part of their estate to the Concertgebouw Orchestra, with the remainder going to the Rijksmuseum’s photography collection. ‘It gives us peace of mind to know that our estate is going where we want it to.’
Making the Concertgebouw Orchestra your beneficiary
From 4 to 10 November, the Concertgebouw Orchestra is taking part in the national “Bequeath to Culture Week”. Johnny ten Theije and Theo Soons explain why they chose to include the Concertgebouw Orchestra in their wills.
Escapism
Fourteen years ago, Johnny and Theo decided to draw up a will together. The question of who would inherit from them was complicated. ‘We don’t have children,’ Johnny says, ‘and sadly, we don’t have the best relationships with our families; I haven’t seen mine since I was 21.’ Theo adds: ‘So when you want to put it in writing what to do when something happens to you, you’re touching a sore spot.’ They asked themselves, ‘what touches us most in our lives?’ Each wrote his answer down on paper, independently of the other. As it turned out, both had written ‘Music’, while according to Johnny, ‘visual art’ might have seemed more obvious at the time.
Today, Johnny and Theo can easily explain their decision. For both of them, their love of music is inextricably bound up with the freedom they found in Amsterdam when they fled their homes. Theo: ‘As a gay man from the countryside, I could be myself here. This freedom is intensely important for us, along with the flourishing arts scene in Amsterdam.’ Johnny left home when he was 21, rejected by his family because of his homosexuality. ‘I came to Amsterdam as kind of a refugee. Very soon I discovered The Concertgebouw and from that moment on, it felt like my second home.’
Their musical tastes are highly divergent. Theo is a pop and jazz fan, and he took Johnny to see Queen in the Ziggo Dome. He’s come to appreciate classical music through Johnny. ‘Now I love both Wagner and Rammstein, and when I walk into The Concertgebouw, I have the feeling that I’m stepping out of my busy life into a world of magic.’
‘You’ll find everything in music, even if it’s for a moment. Every mood and emotion. Whether you’re feeling happy or down, with music you escape reality.'
Johnny says that listening to music is a form of pleasant escapism for both of them. Theo agrees: ‘You’ll find everything in music, even if it’s for a moment. Every mood and emotion. Whether you’re feeling happy or down, with music you escape reality. My singles collection used to be my world. In the real world I had to find my way, but in music and texts I could recognise everything.’
Johnny adds, ‘Music gives me courage. I listen to Mahler’s Second Symphony every day. It’s almost divine that this music was composed in 1904 and that today it can touch me. And how is it that when I was twenty I thought Richard Strauss was awful and now I think he’s wonderful? It’s like a language you learn to understand.’
Our orchestra
After looking far and wide, Johnny and Theo chose to bequeath most of their estate to the Concertgebouw Orchestra. Johnny likes to emphasise the difference between The Concertgebouw and the Concertgebouw Orchestra: ‘For a long time, it wasn’t clear to me that they were two different organisations. Although the building is really my music temple, I ultimately wanted to leave money to the orchestra. To the people, to the music.’ After a conversation with the orchestra, Johnny and Theo decided to bequeath to two particular causes: the instrument fund and the Academy of the Concertgebouw Orchestra.
‘It’s actually about designing an extension of our lives.’
Johnny and Theo like to tell friends and acquaintances that their estate will benefit music and art. Johnny: ‘We’d like to inspire other people to think about what they’re leaving behind.’ Theo: ‘A lot of people think it’s creepy. Making a will is not at all an obvious thing to think about. But it actually gives us peace of mind knowing that our estate will go to a place that fits who we are.’ Johnny explains that thinking about their estate goes further: ‘It’s really about shaping the final part of our lives. That feels touchy, since we’re making a choice not to leave it to our relatives, but maybe we’re looking for something “family-like”.’ Theo: ‘We wanted a connection, and we found it with the Concertgebouw Orchestra, where we had such professional and personal support.’
Since they formalised their wishes, Johnny and Theo have been enjoying the Academy’s lunch concerts. Johnny says: ‘We see what’s going to happen with our money, and this way we can already get a taste of it.’ They’ve also come to regard the orchestra differently. ‘We go to concerts with a certain amount of pride – it’s ‘our’ orchestra – we feel privileged.’
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Written by: Marije Bosnak
This article previously appeared in the Annual Report of the Foundation Concertgebouworkest.