Drum and Showband Adest Musica based in Sassenheim, the Netherlands, welcomes a very special guest musician. The chairman of the Dutch Football Association (KNVB), Michael van Praag, will join Adest Musica for a special performance that will take place in the Amsterdam ArenA where Adest Musica will be playing the national anthems during a friendly soccer match between the Netherlands and France.
The first contact with Michael van Praag occurred during the summer of 2015. The editors of Adest Magazine, the annual luxury magazine published by Adest Musica at the start of each New Year, had an interview with the KNVB president looming high on their wish list. Ewout Claassen, sousaphonist at Adest Musica and additionally a member of the Sponsoring Committee of the band, says: “We had learned that Michael van Praag, in addition to his work for the KNVB, UEFA and FIFA, is an avid sousaphone player. A celebrity in our own luxury magazine values it even more. These were the reasons for us to contact him. The occasion of the interview was in October 2015 at KNVW headquarters in Zeist. With a big smile, Claassen tells “Together with other interviewer Menno de Jong, who plays drums at Adest Musica and also is Sponsor Committee member, we had a very nice conversation with Michael van Praag. At the end of the event, we asked him whether he wanted to take a place in the Corps as a guest musician during a friendly international soccer match in the Amsterdam ArenA. He instantly gave his commitment.”.
Impact
Friday night March 25, Michael Van Praag will be among the ranks of Drum and Showband Adest Musica. The Corps will, prior to the friendly soccer match between the Netherlands and France, play the national anthems of both countries. Of course, van Praag will also rehearse several times with Adest Musica. Van Praag concludes “I think this is a huge honor! The Netherlands are, together with England, still the only countries in the world where the national anthems are being played by live orchestras. That always leaves a huge impression on the soccer players and the visiting association. I’m very much looking forward to the event!”.
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