Final Exam Firiël Werners - Classical Flute

My name is Firiël Werners and I started a very ambitious graduate project a year and a half ago.

I want to share my love for folk/world music with the world. Making music together and enjoying art makes me so happy; that's why it touches me so much to see how polarized Holland, or people in general, can be. That we see strangers not as new friends, but as someone to be afraid of or even hate. Then we no longer see people as individuals, but as a minority group, based on stereotypes and stigmas. “Unknown makes unloved,” as the saying goes. That is why I plan to connect people from all kinds of different cultures through a festival of world music. Through mutual respect and by opening up to the other's difference and the beneficial effect of human contact about homesickness, devotion and hope, we can inspire each other, learn from each other and make the Netherlands a little more beautiful together.

The festival cuts across styles, genres and cultures and brings together people from all over the world Meet new sounds, be amazed by the unknown and become friends with a stranger. In short, a festival with music, jam sessions, workshops, good food, storytellers and adventure!

Often different ethnic groups are diametrically opposed to each other. Even here in the Netherlands the polarization and mutual distrust is palpable. The festival aims to bring the world a little closer together again. So there will be Zwolle residents, conservatory students, music lovers, culturally interested and lay people, schoolchildren, residents of AZC Zwolle and of various care centers. Using music, dance and stories, the festival builds a bridge between different ethnic groups. It breaks through anonymity and breeds a sense of social belonging. This creates mutual understanding and inspiration for respectful coexistence.