Share the Vibe: tunes by Frank Veenstra

Frank Veenstra, Artistic Manager of Muziekgebouw Eindhoven listed his 10 personal concert highlights of the past 15 years. Ten concerts from the rich pop history of the Muziekgebouw, all of which made a deep impression on him. A list led by singer-songwriters David Sylvian and Sufjan Stevens, his most valued artistic inspirators.

Highlight

"In the hectic everyday life, you race from concert to concert, from one season to the next. Looking back, this list fills me with great satisfaction and pride at what we have been able to do here in Eindhoven. I'm most proud of the fact that David Sylvian visited our Muziekgebouw in what will probably have been his very last band tour (2007). Sylvian is for me the greatest living artist. On this historic evening he played material from his project Nine Horses and his own solo work including my all-time favorite, Brilliant Trees! I usually don't let myself behave like a fan, but our backstage picture still hangs in my music room today."

A true masterpiece

"Sufjan Stevens was a guest at the Muziekgebouw for a week in 2012. He was commissioned by us to write a song cycle for 7 trombones and string quartet with Bryce Dessner on guitar (The National) and composer Nico Muhly behind the grand piano. The result was the cycle and album Planetarium (released in 2017) with songs dedicated to the planets of our universe. Nothing less than a masterpiece that I still regularly listen to on Spotify and for which I thanked Sufjan as 'master of the universe' with a classic Eindhoven Evoluon t-shirt". Curious about Frank's list? Listen to it now: