Trumpeter Ruud Kleiss has been playing in the CineMusic Film Orchestra since day one. And that’s despite the fact that as a young boy, he actually wanted to save seals on a Greenpeace boat. A conversation about the trumpet, film music, and why he keeps his earplugs ready for one particular piece.
You’ve been involved with CineMusic from the very beginning. How did that happen?
“I’ve known Ruud Luttikhuizen (pianist and initiator, ed.) for a long time. When he and John van der Sluijs came up with the idea for CineMusic, he asked me right away. It turned out to be so much fun that I stuck around.”
What did you think when they first started talking about the project?
“Initially, the plan was for one concert in the Bullekerk. That was already great fun, although we were plagued by COVID at the time. Then came the story that we were going to go bigger; to the theaters. To be honest, I thought: we’ll have to see about that. But so far it’s working out, and the show gets bigger every time.”
Are you more nervous in a large or a small hall?
“The smaller the hall, the more exciting I often find it. I also sometimes play film music concerts with a small ensemble for a maximum of eighty people. If I play a wrong note then, it’s immediately obvious to everyone. That makes it so personal, and therefore much more nerve-wracking.”
How was the performance at the Concertgebouw last September?
“When I go to a classical concert, the Concertgebouw is the holy grail. So many important people have played there; when you see that balcony with all those names of composers… it’s a kind of magical hall. As a young musician, I really wanted to play there, and that dream came true in September.”
How old were you when you first started making music?
“I started lessons when I was six years old. My mother plays clarinet and was in the concert band, so I went along from a young age. I actually wanted to play drums, but the drum lessons were quite far away and we didn’t have a car. At the music school’s open day, I became fascinated by the trumpet, and that was it. Music really runs in the family: both my grandfathers played an instrument, my father played guitar, and my younger brother plays drums.”
Isn’t the trumpet a difficult instrument to start with?
“Not in my memory. I also just had a nice teacher, and if you do it playfully, it’s easier. I’ve given trumpet lessons myself and now I know it really has to suit you. The embouchure, the tension of your lips, is a very strange kind of balance: you have to create enough tension, but not too much. Many children work too hard with their muscles. But for me, it just clicked.”
Did you practice faithfully?
“My mother says: not enough. We had a deal: I didn’t have to do the dishes as long as I practiced. I started playing in orchestras quite quickly at the music school—in ensembles, the big band, the school symphony orchestra, the pop workshop, the concert band. I played a lot. In high school, real pop bands were added to that. There were quite a few kids who played wind instruments, so it was pretty easy to get a horn section together in a band.”
When did you realize you had talent?
“I don’t really know. It wasn’t the plan at all to do something with music. I finished my pre-university education and studied environmental science for six months because I wanted to work for Greenpeace. Sailing in those boats and saving seals. But that study didn’t feel right for me at all. Meanwhile, I was playing in a ska band. At one point, we got into a van for a whole weekend of making music in Germany, and then I thought: I’m at university now and it’s nothing. The music is great. I have to do something with this. I prepared, did the entrance exam for the conservatory, and I was admitted.”
What makes making music so much fun?
“Making music always makes me very happy. And the social aspect is of course also great: you work with a large group of people on a beautiful product to make other people happy. That’s it. It’s just a lot of fun.”
What specifically makes CineMusic so special that you’re still part of it?
“The orchestra members. A really nice bond has formed. If we play for a few days in a row, a group of us books a cottage and we have a great time. The atmosphere is very good, everything is well-organized, we visit nice places, and the music is fantastic to play.”
What is your favorite piece from the show?
“How to Train Your Dragon. I really love that movie. The music fits so beautifully with everything happening on screen. Somehow that film really touches me; the message that you have to look further than what you see at first glance. And the music is so different from everything else I play. The percussion goes all out. Three of them play a snare drum; it’s just incredibly loud. The first time I thought: ouch, my ears. I always have my earplugs ready for that piece.”
What would you still like to achieve with CineMusic?
“What seems really cool to me is playing abroad. I’ve done that quite often with other projects, and it’s always special to encounter other cultures. I think people in Belgium and Germany also watch movies, and the concept would definitely catch on there. And I also have another idea for an open-air concert in the summer, like the drive-in cinemas they used to have. I can totally see it at the Burcht in Zaandam—a huge screen and the orchestra in front of it.”