Composing with children and the community

We look back on inJazz Conference 2024 through a number of short articles in which we offer takeaways from the day’s panel talks and presentations. Reflections on your practice as a composer was the title of the talk by Anne-Maartje Lemereis, who is in office as the Composer Laureate of The Netherlands during 2024 and 2025.

Anne-Maartje is a distinguished composer and a teacher at the Conservatorium Utrecht. She has dedicated much of her career to working with children and amateur musicians. As the founder of the foundation In de Knop in 2017, she has focused on providing composition lessons to young people aged four to eighteen. Her mission is to integrate composition into music education, making it accessible to all students, regardless of their initial skill level. “As a composer, I don’t necessarily feel bound to any particular genre. I hear influences from pop music, film music and game music in my own music, because that’s what I grew up with. In that sense, I don’t feel a big difference between classical music, jazz music, film music or any genre.”

Anne-Maartje emphasizes the importance of creativity in children’s lives, believing that society often stifles this creativity as they grow older. She encourages children to explore their own melodies and sounds, fostering an environment where their musical ideas can flourish. Her approach is evident in projects like Benno, a youth opera about snails and other ground-dwelling creatures, which travels to schools across the Netherlands, combining music with educational programs about ecology.

One of her innovative projects, Kringlopera (Thrift Opera), involved creating an opera with community members who had never experienced opera before. Participants composed parts of the opera themselves, working with professional opera makers in workshops. This project, conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic, even adapted to restrictions by forming a spoken chorus instead of singing. The success of Kringlopera demonstrated the power of involving non-professional musicians in the creative process and highlighted Anne-Maartje’s ability to make composition accessible and enjoyable for everyone.

Anne-Maartje about community composing: “This was one of the most magical things I had ever done. I had just graduated and I felt this was something meaningful. This is something where I can use my musical superpower, but also really mean something to people who don’t buy an expensive ticket to a niche concert where contemporary classical music is performed on a stage.”

Anne-Maartje also values collaboration between professional and amateur musicians, finding inspiration in their diverse perspectives. She regularly conducts workshops and composition projects at festivals like November Music, where children and teenagers write their own compositions performed by professional musicians. Her work not only nurtures young talents but also bridges the gap between amateur enthusiasm and professional expertise, enriching the musical landscape for all involved.

componistdesvaderlands.nl
annemaartjelemereis.com

Photos by Eric van Nieuwland