Martin Fondse Voice Orchestra
Try-out for concert at Norh Sea Jazz 2025.
The return of colonial jewelry is a contemporary topic. These pieces are often tied to the history of diamond mining and trade during the colonial era. The wealth of one comes at the expense of another. Faces of Earth | Diamonds tells a controversial story of brilliance and power.
Martin Fondse Voice Orchestra
A hybrid ensemble comprising six women and five men, featuring inspiring new musicians alongside a few familiar players. A balance of experience and emerging talent, complemented by the authentic Norwegian saxophonist Trygve Seim with a unique style and sound. The music blends composition and improvisation, engaging with contemporary issues.
The women’s group Vox Sturnus adds a powerful new dimension to the orchestra’s music through the use of text. With contemplative and sharp commentary, and poetry from writers like Shakespeare (e.g., “My crown is in my heart, not on my head, Not decked with diamonds and Indian stones” from Henry the Sixth), they perform like the chorus in a Greek tragedy.
The ensemble’s flexibility—nearly every singer also plays an instrument, and all musicians are multi-instrumental—creates an endless palette of colors and sounds.
Originally, Faces of Earth | Diamonds was commissioned by Bimhuis, Amsterdam.
Martin Fondse – piano, Fender Rhodes, vibrandoneon
Miguel Boelens – alto sax, bass clarinet
Eric van der Westen – double bass
Romain Bly – French horn, Drums
Vox Sturnus:
Margriet Sjoerdsma – vocals
Maaike van der Linde – vocals, flute, bass flute
Julia Werner – vocals
Anne-Marie Roel Messerschmidt – vocals
Thora Sveinsdottir – vocals, viola
Annie Tangberg – vocals, cello
Special Guest:
Trygve Seim – tenor, soprano sax
Photo: Eddy Westveer
Member concert
Splendor can only be the independent and free hub that it is, thanks to the members who support us. We pay them back with our specialty: music. Every year, all Splendor musicians play one concert that's free for this crucial group to whom Splendor owes its everyday existence. Combined with many other events, this means that our members have free entrance to over 50 concerts a year for €9,99 p/m (and €4,99 p/m for minima and students!) – and receive a discount for all other concerts. Pretty good deal, right?
The members enable Splendor to remain independent, which is the only way to secure real freedom in programming, experimentation, risk-taking and the promotion of young, upcoming artists. If you can think of another place without a central programming, where last-minute concerts can be planned any moment, where there is no backstage and artists and audience are constantly mingling and hanging out at the bar, where mysterious creative outbursts can be presented that are often labeled 'too risky' elsewhere, and that still guarantees high quality by unleashing the best of The Netherlands' music scene in this creative playground – you get a free membership!
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