Introduce yourself:

My name is Leonidas Zhupali and I have been working for the project The Residents since 2017. I am a trombonist and a brass teacher. I come from Greece from the island of Corfu, where every child gets an instrument and free lessons. I studied trombone and education in The Hague. I have lived in The Hague for almost ten years now and in addition to teaching at The Residents, I play in various ensembles and orchestras.  

What do you think the The Residents project means for The Hague?

It is very important that music in The Hague becomes a part of its culture. The Hague is multicultural but music is a language which everyone understands and which can bring people together! At the same time different styles of music from different cultures can be exchanged and that is exactly what is achieved with the project The Residents. 

And for the Hague children?

What could be better than letting children make music together? However, not all children have opportunities from home to learn to play a musical instrument. Music education is often expensive and highly accessible. This is where The Residents project comes in handy. We work in low-income neighborhoods and offer the children in schools free music lessons ánd they get to borrow an instrument. In this way all children in The Hague get more equal opportunities to learn to make music. In the Last three years a part of The Residents has been added: the Stadsorkest, a large orchestra where all children are welcome who can play their instrument at a good level and have the motivation to do more with it. We regularly arrange concerts in all kinds of locations, (Juliana children's hospital, library, Zuiderpark, festivals etc) We see this orchestra growing every year, even now in the difficult Corona time, when we have to do everything online. 

What is your fondest memory of any of the classes?

It is difficult to choose from all the memories, but I can mention a few, but not so much of the lessons, because The Residents is more than just lessons and rehearsals:
1. With the students of the City Orchestra we visited the asylum seekers center in Rijswijk to give a workshop there. The children were allowed to introduce their instrument and they were allowed to help the children of the AZC play the instruments. It was "Kids for Kids" and a wonderful experience.
2. During the New Year's concert of The Residentie Orkest , students from The Residents/City Orchestra, were allowed to join in to play a few pieces. It was so nice to see how much fun the children had working towards this, how enthusiastic they were, how exciting they found it and it was great to see all those twinkling eyes among the professionals of the orchestra.
3. The other thing that I find incredibly beautiful is that children often ask for extra lessons, during a vacation or in the summer, or when their project is finished, but they want to continue with it. I think this is the best motivation for me and for my colleagues to continue with this, it gives a lot of satisfaction.  

What do you hope for the future of this project?

I have seen over the past few years that The Residents of The Hague is always working to improve and change where needed to make it even more fun, broader and better. I hope that over the years more schools can join and more children can be exposed to learning an instrument. Hopefully we will be an inspiration to other cultural projects!