VU Orchestra
The VU Orchestra is a symphony orchestra with approximately 90 musicians. Every year, the orchestra gives various performances in the Netherlands and abroad. View the website for more information.
VU Choir
The VU Choir is an enthusiastic student choir that has 55 members. They sing large and smaller or lesser-known choral music from different traditions. Visit their website for more information.
Send an email to info@vukoor.nl and receive detailed information about the open rehearsals in August.
VU Chamber Orchestra
The VU Chamber Orchestra has around 35 musicians. It performs both modern repertoire and classical works for chamber orchestras. The VU Chamber Orchestra regularly works with talented young soloists. You can find more information on their website.
VU Chamber Choir
More than 30 ambitious choral singers make up the VU Chamber Choir. There is room for both old and brand-new music, both accompanied and a cappella. Visit the website for more information.
Concerts
As a VU employee, you can attend concerts by the VU music groups for free: in fact, 35 seats have been made available for each regular concert, funded by the Executive Board.
Summer concert 2025 - Karl Jenkins' The Armed Man: A mass for Peace conducted by Dody Soetanto with VU Choir and VU Chamber Orchestra
Karl Jenkins' The Armed Man is a deeply moving and contemporary peace mass, originally commissioned for the millennium celebrations. Blending elements of the traditional Latin mass with poetry, historical texts and various musical influences, the piece is both a reflection on the horrors of war and a hopeful call for peace. From the striking L'Homme Armé theme to the soaring Benedictus, this work is an emotional journey that appeals to audiences of all backgrounds.
On Saturday 14 June 2025 at 20:00 in the Dominicuskerk Amsterdam, Spuistraat 12, 1012 TS Amsterdam. Free tickets for this performance can be found here, should the 35 tickets be given up, this is the place for regular sales. On Sunday 15 June at 15.30, the concert can also be seen in the Domincuskerk. Free tickets can be found here, should they run out, you can buy tickets here.
VU-kamerkoor
Klankbodem. This programme focuses on the power of old and new choral music. Contemporary compositions and classical masterpieces combine to create a unique musical experience for the listener.
The VU Chamber Choir conducted by Krista Audere will perform a special concert under the name Klankbodem. This programme focuses on the power of old and new choral music. Contemporary compositions and classical masterpieces combine to create a unique musical experience for the listener.
Featuring works by some of today's leading composers, including Julia Wolfe and William Knight, alongside classical works by Francis Poulenc and Benjamin Britten.Klankbodem. This programme focuses on the power of old and new choral music. Contemporary compositions and classical masterpieces combine to create a unique musical experience for the listener.
The VU Chamber Choir will perform a special concert under the name Klankbodem. This programme focuses on the power of old and new choral music. Contemporary compositions and classical masterpieces form
Special in this programme is the performance of pieces recently written especially for the VU Chamber Choir by talented students of the Conservatorium van Amsterdam. These young composers are inspired by the music of earlier generations, just as a soundboard amplifies the vibrations of a musical instrument. This creates an interesting interaction between past and present with new sound colours. For the choir, it is both an honour and a responsibility to be the first to perform and present these works to the public.
The VU Chamber Choir enjoys taking the listener into this fascinating fusion of tradition and innovation, in which works by celebrated composers from the past and contemporary compositions resonate together.
The VU Chamber Choir plays on Saturday 28 June 2025 at 20:30 at the Stadsklooster, Kanaalstraat 198 in Utrecht, free tickets can be found here, should you run out of free tickets you can order regular tickets here. The same programme can be seen Sunday afternoon 29 June at the Vondelkerk, Vondelstraat 120 in Amsterdam. Free tickets for that can be found here. Regular tickets can be ordered here.
VU-Orkest
Finally, on Monday 30 June, at 20.15 at the Muziekgebouw aan ‘t IJ, the VU Orchestra will perform the following programme:
Leonard Bernstein, Candide Overture
Antonín Dvořák, The Wood Pigeon
Johannes Brahms - orchestrated by Arnold Schönberg, Piano Quartet in g minor
Stories
On 30 June, the VU Orchestra will take you through innovative stories, from American satire through Slavic tragedy to Viennese grandeur.
Conducted by Arjan Tien, the orchestra opens with Bernstein and the vibrant ‘Candide Overture’: originally a 1758 book by Voltaire. This satirical tale follows Candide getting caught up in the strangest of situations. In 1953, it was picked up by Lillian Hellman, who asked Bernstein to translate this book into a musical. From this, the orchestra plays the overture. Next, the VU Orchestra takes you into a slightly less light-hearted story: ‘The Wood Pigeon’ by Dvorak. When a woman cheats and subsequently murders her husband, she is haunted by guilt and grief. Continually, she is plagued by the wood pigeon's call from the weeping willow near her husband's grave. This story is based on fairytale poems translated into Czech folk music.
Renewal
After the interval, the concert continues with Brahms' “Piano Quartet in g minor” in Schoenberg's innovative orchestration. This orchestration was premiered in 1937 and was later reshaped by the New York City Ballet, which made a ballet performance on it in 1966. Originally, the piano quartet was created around 1858 by Brahms with Clara Schumann in mind. Her name can be heard creatively in both versions of the piece, spelled out in the notes of the violas in part 2: a nice quote. In the piece, you will hear how the romantic sounds of Brahms transition into Schoenberg's grand arrangement: a rare chance to hear this symphonic translation live and thus a beautiful end to an evening of contrasting and surprising stories.
Free tickets are available here, should they run out, tickets are still on sale here.