Percussionist Bente Olie has been a permanent fixture in CineMusic for many years. She plays a wide range of percussion instruments and impresses during the concert shows with ‘her’ Bolero.
What is your role within CineMusic?
“I play percussion, from glockenspiel to snare drum and everything in between. So everything except the drum kit or timpani.”
How did you end up at CineMusic?
“I was called by Ruud Luttikhuizen (co-initiator, ed.). He came across my name through a mutual student. I joined during the period that CineMusic was still playing in six churches. I thought: I’ll participate for a few concerts, and then we’ll see. No one would have thought that this project would develop into what it is now.”
When did your love for percussion begin?
“I was five years old when I saw the drum band walking through our village during a parade. I said: ‘I want that too.’ At the drum band, they actually thought I was too young, but I kept coming back. Eventually, I was allowed to start in a beginners group, where we were literally tapping on wooden planks.”
Did you know immediately then: this is it?
“I really had no idea. I just participated. Later I even walked along in the parades with a special small drum. It was all very carefree.”
Did you come from a musical family?
“No, not at all. No one in my family did anything with music. It was pure coincidence that I ended up with percussion.”
How did your parents deal with the noise?
“Very open-minded. For a long time, I didn’t have many instruments at home. Only later did a marimba and baroque timpani come into my bedroom. In our terraced house, the sound turned out to be audible from one end of the street to the other. But there have never been any complaints.”
Did you find it difficult to learn percussion?
“No, not really. I studied relatively little compared to others. I did a lot of mental preparation: figuring out hand positions, understanding the structure. I also played in youth orchestras, so I gained a lot of practical experience.”
What was studying at the conservatory like?
“Intensive. Percussion meant multiple principal subject teachers: marimba with one, orchestral percussion with another, timpani with yet another. I was often at school until eleven in the evening. I thought playing was fantastic, but the atmosphere was not always inspiring. Only after the merger with the conservatory from Hilversum did it become more social.”
What did you do after your studies?
“I started Orthopedagogical Music Practice in Maastricht, because I love teaching. That was ultimately not compatible with the distance and my schedule. And then, totally unexpectedly, Slagerij van Kampen called on a Saturday and things suddenly went very fast. I was called on Saturday, I auditioned on Monday, I wrote out parts on Monday evening, I started on Tuesday and two weeks later I was on stage. I played there for four years and did eighty to a hundred shows per year.”
Why did you stop there?
“Because I felt that I wanted to be able to work broadly again. And I didn’t see the combination with a future family working out with the amount of performances by Slagerij van Kampen. After that, I started doing all kinds of projects again: world music, gamelan, samba, new music, filling in with orchestras… And I have always taught a lot, since the second year of my studies.”
What makes CineMusic special for you?
“The atmosphere. It is a warm, pleasant orchestra, and you don’t find that everywhere. There is a lot of attention for a pleasant working environment. I also think the concept itself is great; unique and daring. I have seen the project grow from the beginning.”
Do you have a favorite piece from the show?
“That varies constantly, but Tintin surprised me enormously. I didn’t know the film and I don’t see any of the images behind me while playing. But the music has such a playful, mischievous character. Very surprising.”
You also play the bolero in the show: the same rhythm for minutes. Do you find that exciting?
“I don’t get nervous about it, but you have to be completely focused. It feels like a roller coaster that you can’t get off. It is hypnotic and compelling. I am very much against stress in music; it should not become a competition. That’s why I mainly prepare mentally. I make sure the arc of suspense is right.”
The audience regularly calls your bolero a highlight. What is it like to hear that?
“Then it has succeeded in conveying the hypnotic aspect. You literally can’t go anywhere during that piece, so everything has to come from the music itself.”
What would you still like to achieve with CineMusic?
“That everyone knows it exists. It is such a special project. The more people discover it, the more beautiful evenings and surprises it brings.”
And for yourself as a musician?
“I don’t have any big pre-planned goals. The most beautiful things have always been surprises. Projects whose existence I did not know, but which suddenly came my way. As far as I’m concerned, it can stay that way.”