Annemijn en Floris (The Rolo’s)

“Floris and Annemijn making their music, are an inspiration to those who listen to them – musicians and civilians alike. They are a reminder to us that true musicality is timeless and ageless. There’s nothing more to say but, Jazz has a beautiful future!” – Deborah J. Carter

What’s more fun than making music? Making music together!

Brother and sister like to play together often. They have already done a number of wonderful projects together. Every day for school, Floris and Annemijn study for an hour. They practice technique and classical music. In the afternoon they practice again, then jazz and improvisation. “What can you expect from us? We play a mix of classical, latin and jazz music. We study both classical music and jazz music. Maybe it is not really the easy way to study both, but we think when we go deep into both approaches, there will evolve a musical understanding and synergy. And it will make us capable of creating and performing new music. And that is what we love to do!” Say Annemijn and Floris.
And every Thursday afternoon and Sunday afternoon it’s a party, because then it’s band rehearsal afternoon. With father Jeroen on drums, trombone or piano they play together. Then they work on the repertoire for The Rolo’s as a duo and for The Rolo’s and Friends. They play a mix of jazz, latin and classical music. There is a lot of room for improvisation and most of the compositions are arranged by themselves. There are also several of their own compositions in the repertoire. These rehearsals were first used to teach the children a new jazz standard every week, under the -self-invented- Dutch motto: “A standard a week, then you don’t get sick!” (translation is impossible)

The musical developments of Annemijn and Floris can be followed in images and sound on their own YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSrwuQ3IJmFs16tVG14knvg

The Composer of the Fatherland, Martin Fondse, asked Annemijn and Floris in June 2022 to play as soloists in his new composition, All Together Now. The Rolo’s performed this composition together with a large orchestra and choir on the main stage during the CityProms Festival 2022 in Leeuwarden.

In March 2023, brother and sister organized a concert in the Lutheran church in Leeuwarden, “The Rolo’s Music Matinee”. With special guest Lex Jasper on piano, members of the Frysk Jeugd Orkest and Anne Sollie on piano. A program of 2 x 45 minutes, mainly self-arranged pieces and also own compositions. Effortlessly presented and performed by brother and sister. At that time nine and eleven years old.

In August and October 2023, brother and sister, “The Rolo’s” played together with Deborah J. Carter and Zandscape at the Amersfoort Jazz Festival and the Leusden Jazz Festival. At the end of October, they were attending at a jazz workshop for a week called ‘Jazz aan Zee op Ameland.’ A week full of ensemble lessons, workshops and instrumental lessons given by a number of very good jazz musicians: Hans Mantel, Vincent Koning, Gijs Dijkhuizen, Jasper Soffers, Deborah J. Carter and Marco Kegel. What an inspiring week that was!

On December 21, 2023, The Rolo’s played a prominent musical role in a farewell concert of the Composer of the Fatherland, Martin Fondse in ‘Cloud Nine’ Tivoli/Vredenburg. On this evening, the new Composer of the Fatherland was announced, Anne-Maartje Lemereis.

March 21, 2024 was a great experience. The young talent duo The Rolo’s were allowed to perform with the Lex Jasper Trio in The Hague.

On May 4, at the National Children’s Remembrance Day, The Rolo’s performed with the Orchestra of the Royal Marechaussee. It was a special honor to be able to participate. A huge production that was also broadcast live on local TV channels.

On May 9, The Rolo’s and Friends played at a very nice jazz festival in Den Bosch, called Jazzy Huiskamers. ‘The Friends’ in this case were the excellent musicians, Frans van Geest and Vincent Koning.

On May 24, The Rolo’s played again with other friends at the legendary jazz venue De Tor in Enschede. They played with Ruud Ouwehand, Maarten van der Grinten and Sebastian Netta.

On June 9, The Rolo’s and Friends were allowed to close the Waddensea Jazz Festival in Harlingen. This time, ‘The Friends’ were the great musicians Tobias Nijboer and Durk Hijma. Furthermore, this month was dedicated to duo playing, where they expanded their repertoire to about 40 minutes in connection with their participation in a major international competition in Sicily, the Ibla Grand Prize.

In July, The Rolo’s did three try-out concerts and on July 7, they left for Sicily to gain their first international experience there. They played eleven concerts in five days. They received an excellent report grade, namely an 8.9 and the following mentions: Most Distinguished Musicians and Special Mention for composition by Annemijn and Special Mention Young Talent.