GEELVINCK FORTEPIANO FESTIVAL - Netherlands

Museum Geelvinck is a historic house museum, which, besides other collections, stewards the largest Dutch collection of keyboard instruments from the 18th through early 20th centuries: over 450 musical instruments, mainly historic pianos from the late 18th and early 19th centuries, as well as harmoniums, clavichords &c. It encompasses the collections of the former Sweelinck Museum (Conservatorium of Amsterdam) and of the Harmonium Museum Netherlands. In 2004 it started the Geelvinck Salon concert series in Amsterdam, which is continued up till today. In 2011 the first edition of the Geelvinck Festival took place. Under the artistic leadership of dr Michael Tsalka it developed into the largest international festival for fortepiano worldwide. Each edition of 2,5 weeks consisted of 35 to 45 concert performances, three days of master classes, an international scientific symposium, competitions for emerging professional fortepianists, an international call for new compositions for fortepiano, and other manifestations. Due to the Covid-pandemic, the 10th and last edition of the festival in 2020 had to be turned into a full online event. Since then the festival organisation is working on a new format for the competition, next to one-day minifestivals. One of its initiatives was 'Beethoven is Black', a series of (online) concerts, interviews with musicians of colour, and an international symposium, which addressed the underrepresentation of musicians of colour in the professional sectors of classical and early music. Till 2020, Museum Geelvinck used to organise even more than 130 concert performances per year, both at her own premisses and in other historic houses, castles and museums. Today, that has been reduced significantly, as this depended on subsidy programs. However, we still (co-)organise concert performances at our premises Kolthoorn House & Gardens, and in various other museums, castles and country estates, where fortepianos are on loan from our collection. Next to this, Museum Geelvinck is actively supporting and initiating efforts to strengthen cultural diversity and inclusion, and to encourage and advocate the living heritage of traditional music and musical instrument making.