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Join us at Opening Night in the Sloterpark

Fifth edition of festive open-air concert, this year in Amsterdam Nieuw-West

Wed, Jul 2, 2025

On Friday evening 12 September, we will open the new season with a festive open-air concert in the Sloterpark in Amsterdam Nieuw-West. Led by the energetic conductor Stéphane Denève, the orchestra will take you on a colourful musical journey full of dazzling dance rhythms. Welcome - admission is free!

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This very special evening will feature music that builds bridges between people and cultures. After a vibrant concert by talented young musicians, the famous Concertgebouw Orchestra will play well-known works by Tchaikovsky, Dvořák, Grieg, Mussorgsky, Ravel and Bernstein, as well as music by composers of our time, Claude Chalhoub and Karmit Fadael. ISH Dance Collective from Amsterdam Nieuw-West will bring extra movement to some of the music with a unique choreography.

Read more about the concert programme

The fifth edition

For the fifth time, we go into town to open the season together with all Amsterdammers. After the Dam square (2021), the Westerpark (2022), the NDSM wharf in North (2023) and the Nelson Mandela Park in Amsterdam-Zuidoost (2024), we will now visit Amsterdam’s Nieuw-West district, where we recently started a collaboration with Theater Meervaart.

Summer evening in the park

Opening Night 2025 by the Concertgebouw Orchestra is an evening of music, dance and encounters in the open air, complete with food trucks. The orchestra will play at 8.15 p.m.

Opening Night 2024 - luchtfoto
Opening Night 2024 in the Nelson Mandelapark in Amsterdam-Zuidoost

First, between 6.45 and 7.30 p.m., talented young musicians from Amsterdam Nieuw-West and far beyond will give a vibrant concert! Led by Concertgebouw Orchestra trombonist Nico Schippers, the Jonge Strijkers en Blazers Nederland and the reART World Music Choir & Ensemble will collectively play works by Selim Doğru and other composers as well as klezmer and traditional Arabic, Syrian, and Turkish music, featuring the young singer Ayşe Devrim Özalp, ISH Junior, and violin soloists Emma Breedveld and Naomi Bach. As part of the Amsterdam Klinkt Festival, Selim Doğru's newly composed Nieuw-West Rhapsody will be performed with audience participation.

Expect a summery atmosphere, surprising musical encounters, food trucks with goodies, and a unique evening in the Sloterpark’s lush green scenery.

On TV

Even if you cannot make it to the concert at Sloterpark, you don't have to miss anything: on Saturday 13 September at 10:45 PM, you can watch the concert on Dutch national TV channel NPO 2, thanks to broadcaster AVROTROS.

Opening Night 2024 food truck jlousberg_240913_rco_opening_night_r5_3738_hr_2
Opening Night 2024 took the form of a mini-festival, complet with food trucks (photo: Jorrit Lousberg)