Of course, you know that the Residentie Orkest gives symphonic concerts. But we do so much more. A whole spectrum of activities takes the orchestra right into the capillaries of The Hague. At schools, into the city: you'll find us everywhere. We develop all this positive energy from four well-founded pillars: symphonic concerts, cultural education, cultural participation and professional talent development. We asked Sven Arne Tepl, our general and artistic director, what this Last entails. To begin with the now-overfamiliar One Minute Symphony.

"Composers rarely get the chance to actually perform a work for symphony orchestra. The One Minute Symphony offers about ten composition students of the Royal Conservatoire The Hague in The Hague per concert season the opportunity to profile themselves with a short symphonic work. The concept of the One Minute Symphony is simple: have a composition student write a symphonic work of one minute, which is then performed by the Residentie Orkest during a concert. Six years ago, the first One Minute Symphony was on the lecterns; since then, some 65 have been composed and played."

"Young composers like Thomas van Dun, Karmit Fadael, Jan-Peter de Graaff and others have written a One Minute Symphony at one time or another and are now receiving major commissions from other orchestras. So the idea is bearing fruit! The One Minute Symphony concept of the Residentie Orkest is as yet unique in the Dutch orchestra world. It has been picked up abroad, though."

"The composition students are not only challenged by the strict time limit of one minute. Before they start composing, they have to meet someone in The Hague as inspiration for their work. This may be a pre-chosen person, but also a random passer-by. That encounter is documented and forms the introduction to the One Minute Symphony during the concert."

"The concept has now been expanded to include the One Minute Symphony XL. Twice a season we ask a student who has already written a One Minute Symphony to compose a four-minute symphonic work. Our audiences and orchestra musicians rate the One Minute Symphony highly."

Orkestmaster
"This long-term, ongoing project offers selected students from the Royal Conservatoire The Hague the opportunity to play full part in the orchestra, in up to five productions per season. They are accompanied by a mentor, a musician from the orchestra, who sits next to the student during all productions. After each rehearsal there is a short conversation in which experiences are exchanged and points for improvement are suggested. The mentor writes an evaluation after each production, which is also shared with the principal subject teacher."

"During those five productions, Orchestra Master students can make considerable progress in all practical aspects of the orchestral profession. In addition, they are introduced to the many social and educational activities of the Residentie Orkest. In the field of cultural participation and cultural education, our orchestra in The Hague is enormously active. We ask the Orchestra Master students to choose and perform one or more tasks from the broad palette. Successful completion of the Orchestra Master is rewarded with a diploma."

Art of Sound
"This is the Tone Master training of the Royal Conservatoire The Hague: learning to make sound recordings skillfully, under the guidance of enthusiastic professionals and tone master and teacher Daan van Aalst. The Residentie Orkest makes about ten recordings per season, with Daan also using his students as assistant tone master. These recordings go to NPO Klassiek and to our own streaming service. The conservatory department at Amare has several high-end recording studios, all directly linked to the recording studio next to the stage of the Concert Hall. It's great to have everything in-house to make good recordings in one of the best concert halls in the Netherlands."

National Master Orchestra Conducting (NMO)
"The master conducting program is a collaboration of the conservatories in Amsterdam and The Hague and several orchestras, including the Residentie Orkest. Conductors Ed Spanjaard, Jacques van Steen and Antony Hermus are closely involved as teachers. The NMO lasts two years. There is room for two students per academic year, so the selection is very strict. At auditions, there are often more than eighty candidates! The student conductors attend rehearsals as assistant conductors throughout a production. The conductor-on-duty can ask the student conductor questions about sound balance, for example, but also let them conduct themselves. During the breaks they talk at length with each other."

"Twice a season there is a conducting master class, led by our chief conductor Anja Bihlmaier or regular guest conductor Jun Märkl. For an afternoon the students are taught with two pianos, the day after they conduct the orchestra in a half-hour rehearsal. Of course, there is always broad evaluation, including with the musicians."

"The NMO has already given many young conductors a flying start. I mention Ryan Bancroft, who is now principal conductor at the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra and at BBC Welsh. Leonardo Sini, who is already one of the most in-demand opera conductors. And alumnus Chloe Rooke, who conducted our orchestra on Sept. 15 at Amare. This was a special concert anyway, as violinist Coraline Groen, winner of the Oskar Back Competition 2023, played Vaughan Williams' The Lark Ascending with us. The orchestra accompanies the finals of this important violin competition every year."

Laboratory
"This is a project that originated in the corona era during the lockdown. The Laboratory is a proving ground that brings together the projects and training described above. We have an ensemble from the orchestra, four student composers, the NMO student conductors and the Art of Sound student tone masters. Their teachers are all there as well. The composers have to write a four-minute piece in a short period of time, and this is rehearsed on the spot; the composers get feedback from the ensemble, the conductors are accompanied by Ed Spanjaard, for example, and the tone masters make recordings under the direction of Daan van Aalst. So much energy comes together here, it's incredibly intense! The Laboratory lasts only one day, but everyone who participates experiences its great added value."

DNOA
"This is the two-year national master's program in opera, a partnership between the Conservatory of Amsterdam and The Hague's Royal Conservatoire The Hague. The Residentie Orkest collaborates once a season on a DNOA opera production. Recently it was Mozart's Zauberflöte and La finta giardiniera; at the end of this season we will do an opera by Monteverdi. DNOA consistently provides magisterial singers! One half of the cast takes transitional exams with a production, the other half graduates with it. For all collaborators, it's a great adventure every time."

"In Amare we have everything under one roof, so the collaboration with the conservatory has really taken off. We knock on each other's doors, just put our heads together for an evaluation or a brainstorming session. And then quickly and efficiently set up the results. We have been doing a lot of talent development for years. In Amare it has gained a lot of depth in a short time."
Ronald Touw