Oorkaan For Home

Whoop Whoop(s)

The newly formed Oorkaan Ensemble consists of four top musicians. Combining different cultures and musical traditions, they play theatrical concerts without words. They tell nothing more than the story you can hear from the music. That is in Whoop Whoop(s) quite a journey, full of traditional Turkish sounds, new compositions, Mozart and more. And it begins and ends with a party.

For all Orchestra for Home assignments from Four! and full instructions, click HERE.

1. Üsküdar - Are you coming?
Access the educational materials from Four! via this link. First listen to the song. Then try to sing the song yourself. Is that successful? Think of a next verse to the melody. Make sure the last words rhyme.

2. Invent your own musical city.
You can use musical instruments, but also your voice, body, paper, ribbed tubes, or plastic bags. In fact, anything that makes sound.

3. Draw your own culture.
What are recognizable things from the country you come from? And what kind of music do you think of? Make a drawing about your own country.

4. Listen to Four's wonderful Spotify playlist here! 

Tickle

In an enchanting visual space, violin-playing singer Tiemo Wang, dancing percussionist Vitaly Medvedev and singing dancer Milang Lie Meeuw Lew take you into a playful encounter between dance, music and voice.

1. Look at Milang's dance. What form do you see while dancing?
For example, do you see a circle, square, triangle, or dash?

2. Get started with an itch dance!
In Kriebel, there is a lot of dancing and movement. But not just like that! Each player moves in a certain way. Make up moves that fit a circle, triangle, or dash. 

3. Make an itch drawing
Make up as many shapes as you can with a triangle, circle and dash and draw a picture of these. 

For all of Kriebel's Oorkaan for Home assignments and full instructions, click HERE.

Sticks

Janwillem, Eric, Freek and Frans are the four musicians of Percossa and they play the theatrical concert Sticks. Percossa makes music with everything they find around them. Whether it is a twig, a tomato can or a drum kit. They get the most beautiful sounds out of it!

1. Oorkaan & Percossa: Who are they anyway?
In Sticks, Percossa discovers who they really are themselves and what OER is, because yes ... what is OER? Check out the following clip!

2. In a green turnip land
During the performance Sticks sings and plays the song "In a green knoll land. Do you already know that song? Just listen to it by watching this video. The men of Percossa walk very nicely in time, can you do that too? Just walk along and look around to see if you can find a can or cookie jar to drum along right away. Or make your own percussion instrument, see assignment 4.

While walking in step, called marching, the men also hold all kinds of objects. Like a white cloth on a stick, do you know what that is?
... A peace flag! This also appears in the performance.

3. Body percussion: get involved!
Percossa can make sound with all kinds of objects, but they can also do it very well with their own bodies. That's called body percussion. Would you like to be able to do that too? Then stand up and join this video. And get your family in too, so you can do the whole rhythm together!

4. This is how to make your own 3-in-1 percussion instrument.
You need: an empty clean can, a little rice, a balloon, a rubber band, chopsticks (Chinese chopsticks, for example) and scissors. Put a handful of rice into the empty can. Be careful because the edge can be a little sharp. Cut the tail off the balloon and place the rest of the balloon over the top of the can. To keep the balloon in place pull a rubber band over the can and lo and behold, your 3 in 1 instrument is ready! Will you play the balloon bongo, the rice shaker or the güiro with the sticks first? Have fun!

5. In a green knoll land, but together, at a distance!

6. Listen to Sticks' radio play! 

Strange Zones

In Strange Strokes plays TRIO DIAMANDA, a classical string trio formation featuring violinist Diamanda Dramm, Yanna Pelser on viola and Marcus van den Munckhof on cello!

1. Get involved!
Trio Diamanda plays music from around the world. They play classical music from Bach to Irish folk music by composer Garth Knox. Irish folk music is fiddle music meant to be danced to. Are you dancing with us?

2. How do you build a violin?
In Strange Strokes, a violin, viola and cello are played. Did you know that the violin has been around for over 400 years! But how are violins actually made and of what material? Watch it here in a video.

3. Make your own stringed instrument
Fancy making your own music but no instrument at your disposal? No worries, with this step-by-step plan you can simply make your own stringed instrument!

Supplies:
- Different sizes of (sturdy) boxes. For example, a sturdy shoe box
- 4 postelastics or small rubber bands, Pencils, Scissors, Tuning fork (if available)

Try:
- You can make a rubber band vibrate when you pull it tight in your hands. When you pull it and release it, you see and hear the rubber band vibrate. You just can't hear a loose rubber band very well yet.Sound is actually vibration through the air. The rubber band cannot make the air vibrate very hard.

Roadmap:
- In the lid of your box, cut a sound hole or "F-holes" approximately in the middle. (Children may experiment with the shape of the sound hole)
- If necessary, decorate the rest of the box as well.
- Span 4 rubber bands around it lengthwise.
- On one side under the sound hole, place a wood or thick pencil under the rubber bands.
- You can adjust the tension per elastic a bit by pulling at the bottom
- You can also adjust the length of the rubber bands by moving the pencil or wood under the rubber bands.

Caravan

In Caravan, piano man Julian, Turkish flute player Sinan, tough viola player Yanna and percussion genius Jeroen follow the melody. They experience a musical search for the sound of home with Arabic, Irish and Turkish sounds mixed with classical music and jazz.

1. What is a composition? And how do you make melodies?
A composition is a large work of art composed of several parts. In fine art, for example, this is a painting made with different shapes and colors. Check out this video how composer Julian creates melodies for a composition.

2. What does home sound like to you?
What sounds remind you of home? See if you can record that sound, or maybe even play it back! Then suddenly you have created your own so-sounds-home composition!

3. What is a Ney?
The Ney is a very special instrument that was first used 5,000 years ago in the ancient civilization from Egypt. In the Western world there are very few people who can play the Ney. Sinan blows on the Ney in Caravan and will tell you all about it. Then soon you will know more about the Ney than most people in the Netherlands!

4. A piece of cake

This is how you make your own whistle!
What do you need? A straw, a dark marker and scissors.

Press one end of the straw flat with your finger. Cut an elongated sharp point there. With a dark marker, draw a small circle every 3 cm along the length of the straw, and cut it out until you have small holes. Make sure you can cover them with your fingers. Stick the straw in your mouth and whistle away!

5. Listen to a cool radio play by Caravan

Dreamblowers

Dromenblazers is a joyful concert in which Tom Wolfs, Jesse Faber, Bart de Kater and Sergio Hamerslag of the Nieuw Amsterdams Klarinet Kwartet magically switch smoothly between different styles of music by Gershwin, Satie, Mahler and Dvořák. Because in dreams, anything goes!

For all Oorkaan for Home assignments from Dream Blowers and full instructions, click HERE.

1. Imagine your dream world
Listen to Gnossiennes: V. Modéré (Arr. Jesse Faber). Close your eyes and imagine yourself dreaming and hearing this music. Then what happens in your dream? Open your eyes and draw or write your thoughts on paper.
Download HERE the dream cloud, print it out and describe or draw your dream world in this blown dream cloud. Take a picture of it and mail it to info@oorkaan.nl and win a musical dream prize!

2. Make your own carrot clarinet
Watch a video with Tom and Bart of the New Amsterdam Clarinet Quartet here How to turn an organic carrot into a real clarinet! When you get started, don't forget to ask your parents to help out! Have your mom or dad better get the impact drill out of the garage ;-) Making even more wind instruments out of vegetables? Check out HERE. Have fun and good luck!

Quartets with Beethoven

In Quartets with Beethoven, the four musicians of the Dudok Quartet play a quartet game outdoors with each other. They take you into a musical game. Beethoven's brilliant piece of music String Quartet opus 132 is always in motion and, like the cards in the game, is shuffled over and over again. Will all the musical colors eventually come together?

1. Four times...is quartet!
Watch a video with the Dudok Quartet here. What do you all see passing by four times in this video?

2. Make your own quartet game!
First, download the quartet game frames and print them out on 2 A4 sheets. Draw or glue the cards as a quartet. Come up with 8 different categories for each quartet series, e.g. 'insects' or 'instruments' and come up with 4 corresponding names for each category, e.g. for the insects: a butterfly, a fly, a wasp and a bee. Write these on the cards, make a nice drawing to go with them, cut them out and quartet away!

Download HERE the quartet game frames. Note! It is 2 pages!

3. Listen to the cool radio play of Quartets with Beethoven!

Cello Warriors

Do you know the 8 Cello Warriors? They are strong, supple, and dexterous. Armed with cello and bow, they go to war. With humor and exciting music, the Cello Warriors move gracefully through battle. What strength do you need to be a warrior? Cello Warriors is a 3-part series of 3 short concerts, directed by 3 choreographers, about being tough and vulnerable, winning and losing, and the power of music.

1. The musicians and their instruments
How many people play in an octet do you think?
Exactly, 8! Because octet means 8. Watch a video here about the musicians of the octet and what they can do with the cello.

2. Listen to a cool radio play by Cello Warriors here!

The Suleikas and the Mystery of the Sensitive String

A surprising concert full of comic scenes, embarrassing situations and unexpected magic tricks with music from Mozart to Piazzolla, from Chaplin to Ravel.

1. Color the nuts in love!
Download HERE A fun coloring page from The Suleikas and the Mystery of the Sensitive String. What all do you see? What string instruments do you recognize? Who are in love with each other? And who would be jealous? Also, write some music or lyrics of your own on the stave. Do you already know who you are going to give it to? Have fun coloring!