Joep van Geffen
"My love for music started at the Waldorf School. As a toddler, I loved listening to the teacher sing, and music continued to play a big part after kindergarten. The fact that our class was musical soon spread through the school like wildfire. And so it came about that we were allowed to take part in a performance of the St Matthew Passion conducted by Daniel Reuss. When I first heard Freddy Mercury's voice at secondary school, I knew for sure: I wanted to sing! I did so enthusiastically in the school choir and at music lessons. After secondary school, I got a job as a singing clerk and worked in an Italian speciality shop during the week because I didn't know what I wanted to study. My singing teacher advised me to go to the conservatoire. When I heard Schubert songs for the first time, sung by Dietrich Fischer Dieskau, I was hooked. At the conservatory in Arnhem I absorbed everything like a sponge. I wanted nothing more than to sing, alone or together.
"After my studies, I joined the Groot Omroepkoor, a world full of crazy experiences and with a sea of music. Besides the Groot Omroepkoor, I sing in small ensembles and solo. Why choose? Through singing, the world opened up to me."
"Cooking, and especially Italian cuisine, remains a huge passion. I hope that with my enthusiasm for music and food I can inspire others and plant a seed that can grow and blossom somewhere."