Concerts for a special target audience, with a programme of classical music served with apple pie. Informal, accessible and free.
Professional musicians, including the members of the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra, devote their time and talent to bringing fine music out of the concert hall and into the community. They reach out to people who might otherwise not be able to enjoy classical music by visiting hospitals, care homes, community centres and neighbourhood theatres. During the interval, there is apple pie for everyone. This typifies the safe, homely atmosphere of the concerts: a warm and welcoming environment in which the music, the performers and the listeners come together as one.
The founder and artistic director of the Apple Pie Concerts is Michiel Holtrop. Each season, he organizes a concert series, devising the programme and inviting musicians to take part. He also plays wherever possible, taking the viola part. In 2013, he hit upon the idea of serving apple pie during the interval. The gesture soon came to symbolize the concerts themselves: informal gatherings with a strong social function.