101,000 visitors at the VriendenLoterij ZomerConcerten at Het Concertgebouw

The VriendenLoterij ZomerConcerten came to a close last night with a sold-out performance of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony by the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra under Jaap van Zweden. In total, Het Concertgebouw welcomed 101,000 visitors to 91 concerts in July and August. More than half of all concerts sold out. With these visitor numbers and an occupancy rate of 87%, this was the most successful edition since 2009. Nearly 4,000 musicians from 25 countries performed during the festival. The youngest was 13-year-old violinist Solomiia of the Youth Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine; the oldest was 87-year-old American soul singer Mavis Staples.

Many new visitors from outside Amsterdam
Although Amsterdam is popular with international tourists, only 10% of the summer concert audience came from abroad. A large share of visitors came from Amsterdam itself (35%), but a striking number travelled from elsewhere in the Netherlands (55%). Het Concertgebouw sold more tickets this summer to visitors from Almere than to visitors from the United States, the country accounting for the largest share of international visitors. Of all tickets sold for the summer concerts, 40% went to VriendenLoterij participants, who receive a 50% discount on concert tickets.

Highlights: Pride concerts, youth orchestras and more
Four concerts were programmed specially for WorldPride, among them an international queer choir festival and Opus 1 Ball, an encounter between classical music and ballroom culture. The second edition of Amsterdam in Concert, with Jamai, Karin Bloemen and Glennis Grace, was another highlight: the Main Hall was transformed into a traditional Amsterdam brown café for a programme of classic Amsterdam songs. Trumpeter Chief Xian aTunde Adjuah closed the Miles Davis centenary together with the Jazz Orchestra of the Concertgebouw, in a striking tribute.

Youth orchestras from the Netherlands and abroad also drew considerable attention, in particular the Youth Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine, whose summer tour offered many of its members a welcome respite from life in a country at war. The summer concerts are often an occasion for soloists to make their debut; this edition that was true of Georgian pianist Giorgi Gigashvili, among others, performing with Germany's national youth orchestra. Emerging pop and jazz talent performed in the Basement Sessions in the Choir Hall of Het Concertgebouw.