Sometimes my music work in the Netherlands takes me to some incredibly odd places... this particular time it was to a little church in a little town to the far north of the country. So, from where I live, it was a touch over 3 hours in a car.... and let me tell you, it was a pretty crappy drive as it came bucketing down with rain on the way several times... which made it pretty much impossible to see anything, and a touch dangerous with the water-planing possibilities on the motorway... so, I saw some car stop completely on the side of the motorway to wait it out, and I slowed to a bit of a crawl (I had to get there at a certain time...). Meanwhile, there were quite a few crazies who carried on driving as if nothing was different... despite the fact that visibility was down to meters only!
Anyway, back to this little church, the KunstKerk. Actually, I'm not really sure that the church is serving as a church anymore! There are many churches in the Netherlands that are now serving a different purpose these days... with the churches now not being able to service their maintenance costs anymore. So, they are either being rented out... or they are sold for a nominal amount, with the buyer being required to restore and maintain the building.
In the case of the KunstKerk, it appears that there was a grant secured to turn it into a sort of community arts centre? It seems that there are many locals who now use it as a music, yoga and art venue with the main church room being used as a performance stage... there are back areas that are now artist studios, and there are artist's in residence living in the living quarters of the koster (priest/minister) and the whole place is used for camp and small festivals. Actually, it is a nice way for the building to keep serving the community long after its original intended use has lapsed.
With these out of the way churches, you never really know what to expect with the acoustics when you are arriving for a concert. Most of time, they can be quite good... with the small volume being bolstered by a stone/wood construction. At times, they are bordering on the too boomy side... but in this case, it was just perfect! The ensemble sounded full and strong across the registers!
Anyway, the best thing about these little town/village venues is the enthusiastic and curious audience! It is always a pleasure to play for the small but interested audience... even more that there are often younger children in the audience as well!
However, that is all balanced out by the incredibly late night drive back home... I hate being the driver for these things. Let me tell you, musicians love to network and chat after a concert... and when you are the driver looking at the start of a 3-4 hour drive, you WANT TO LEAVE RIGHT AWAY! Next time, I will just leave people in the middle of nowhere....