Liberation Day Concert

Ben van Gelder & Reinier Baas (duo)
Reinier Baas and Ben van Gelder have been working together for over 15 years, developing a distinctive musical language. They have performed together more than 300 times at venues and festivals including the Vortex Jazz Club, Erasmushuis, Sala Vanni, Het Concertgebouw, Bozar, the Umbria Jazz Festival, Wellington Jazz Festival and the North Sea Jazz Festival.

Their collaboration with the Metropole Orkest resulted in the album Smash Hits (2018), which was nominated for an Edison Award. In 2019, they released their duo album Mokum In Hi-Fi, about which de Volkskrant wrote: “With just saxophone and guitar, Ben van Gelder and Reinier Baas sound like a full orchestra.” Their most recent album, This Is Water (2024), features guest contributions from Jeff Ballard, Han Bennink, Cory Smythe and Marta Warelis, and was described by de Volkskrant as “a magnificent record by musicians of great international stature”.

Fuensanta
Fuensanta Mendez is regarded as one of the most compelling artists on the Dutch jazz scene. The Mexico-born singer, double bassist and composer has performed at the North Sea Jazz Festival and held a residency at the Bimhuis. She performs both as a solo artist and with her nine-piece Ensamble Grande, as well as in the musical trio Perselí. In the latter formation, Fuensanta appeared several years ago in the Silence concert series.

Doriene Marselje
Dutch harpist Doriene Marselje began harp lessons at the age of six and, a year later, won the Young Talent Award at the Gergiev Festival, after which she gave her first solo concert at De Doelen. At the age of ten, she was admitted to the Young Talents class at the Utrechts Conservatorium, where she studied with Erika Waardenburg. She went on to study at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam and with Ernestine Stoop at the Koninklijk Conservatorium, where she obtained her master’s degree in 2012. Since 2022, Marselje has been Professor of Harp at the Fontys Hogeschool voor de Kunsten.