Liberation Day in the Netherlands, celebrated each year on 5 May, commemorates the end of WWII and the country’s freedom from occupation. It is a day of public rejoicing with the young at the centre. This year, our fabulous ISA Marimba groups marked the occasion with a special performance at De Hallen in Amsterdam.

There were 52 ISA participants, from the talented Grades 4 & 5 percussion group and the Marimba Mania parents and staff group. Everyone played expertly and drew a large and appreciative crowd. One highlight was the group’s performance of a song called ‘Hope’, to express their hope for a peaceful world. 

Lower School Music Teacher Fabian, who organised the event, expressed his pride in both the performances and how all members of the ISA Community came together to make the event a success:

“Parents came early and put a lot of work into setting up, and everyone stayed after the performance to pack up: we cleared the stage quickly by working together! Students, teachers and parents all together…it was a nice experience. Community at the Heart was here!”

ISA’s Marimba programme has been going from strength to strength over the last 9 years and Fabian hopes that taking part in performance will be something that students always remember. He shared that, on their last day at ISA, some of our graduating seniors recently played one last song on the marimba. Their memories of their time in ISA’s music programme are near to our students’ hearts and will be something they cherish in the future.

There will be more opportunities for our music groups to showcase their talents to the local community in the future as we are currently exploring more external partnerships.

Thank you to Sonya for setting up the partnership with De Hallen and Fabian for organising and making the event happen. Well done to all our wonderful performers!