Travelling
from Spain, France, Italy, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia – Herzegovina, Montenegro,
Albania, Greece, Turkey, Yorrick Troman and Liesbeth Baelus have finally
arrived in India. Renowned musicians, Yorrick Troman from France is a
violinist, composer, arranger and recording producer. He is the first
concertmaster of Symphonic Orchestra of Navarrra, Spain and has currently taken
a yearlong sabbatical to complete this Orbit Musicians World Tour. Liesbeth was
awarded the Best Musician of the year Award in 2018 and has been a Suzuki
Talent Education teacher. She has performed with the Berlin Philharmonie,
Elbphilharmonie and is now on a mission to take music to the children of the
world.
However,
their travel plans had to be rescheduled as the conflict broke out between
Israel and Hamas in Gaza. The couple had to drop their visit to Egypt, Saudi
Arabia and Oman. Their beloved van, Californian Volkswagen, which they were
using to travel by road, had to be shipped to Thailand, where they will be
heading after India.
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“It was
very unsafe right now to travel to Gaza and we had to skip many countries by
road. We were very sad because we had wonderful contacts to go and work there
with children. The war broke out on October 7 and we were already in Turkey and
were supposed to head to Egypt when we got the news. We had to put the van on a
container ship to Thailand,” says Liesbeth.
The
couple has the advantage of a European Union passport which allows them visa on
arrival to nearly 180-190 countries, giving them the ease to apply for visas on
the go. “It’s an adventure in itself. When we are already in one country, we
apply for the visa for the next country. From India, we don’t need visa for
Thailand, but we kind of go with the flow. We have our fixed itinerary planned
but anything can change in a second, wars break out and borders can close,”
says Liesbeth.
They
flew in to Delhi and went up to Rishikesh for a puja festival as they wanted to
experience the music and even took tabla lessons and Indian music lessons for
five days. Now in Goa, they will be interacting with the young musicians at the
Child’s Play India Foundation and will be presenting a concert today, October
31, at Menezes Braganza Conference hall, Panjim at 6 pm. Donation passes will
be available at the door before the concert and children 16 years or below have
free entry.
“It’s a
beneficiary concert for the Child’s Play India Foundation and we are very
excited. We spent a few days rehearsing with them and then we’ll get the
concert. We will play Mozart Vivaldi, also some compositions that is all woven
in a musical story. The children will be participating in the interactive
musical story full of discovery and connection,” explains Liesbeth.
Dr Luis
Dias of Child’s Play India Foundation says, “We at Child’s Play India
Foundation are so happy to host the Orbit Musicians Liesbeth Baelus and Yorrick
Troman and their adorable little girl, Solveig. They have had a wonderful time
meeting and interacting with musicians from our orchestra Camerata Goa and
children from Child’s Play and the wider community over the past two days. The
Orbit Musicians and we at Child’s Play India Foundation are of one mind: that
music has no barriers. That reaching out to people, especially children at any
scale (from local to global) helps build a better, kinder, more humane future.
There is too much strife, war, bloodshed. Music cuts across all divides and
heals and unites.”
From
Goa, they will be heading to Pune where they will interact with the students of
Suzuki School of Violin that is led by Rama Chobhe. In Mumbai, they will
perform with the children at Street Kids Crèche Program in South Mumbai and
they will also work with and play for the blind children’s school, Happy Home,
in Mumbai before leaving the country for Thailand.
Speaking
about how the journey has been musically, Liesbeth says, “It’s been absolutely
incredible. We especially did a lot of projects for children in vulnerable
situations. We’ve been working together with UNICEF in some places with other
organizations. We already feel that that’s where we can make the biggest change
because these are the new generation and they can come in contact with culture
and feel they’re significant that there are people from very far away who come
and play for them. We hope it is influenced a little bit their life. It’s been
absolutely wonderful.”
Through
their travels, Yorrick and Liesbeth feel that the most difficult place to
perform was where they found the children most vulnerable. They were playing in
Turkey, which was badly hit by an earthquake in February and they have now
built a container city. “All these families live in containers for now, half a
year and it’s going to take much longer. They have lost everything and their
families and their parents. But looking through their eyes, there is so much
life and they love the music and they come alive. The children are incredibly
strong.”
She
further adds, “We performed at Gaziantep, which is 200 kilometers from Aleppo,
Syria. It’s the biggest Syrian orphanage in Turkey.”
Their
four-year-old daughter, Solveig has been incredible on the journey. She is
soaking in the musical and cultural experience and has made many friends.
“Children don’t need language to speak. They have like their own way of
communicating. It’s tiring for her but it’s every day is another place to
sleep. She’s really wonderful and she also performs the violin and takes part
in the concert,” says Liesbeth.
How are
they taking back all these memories? “We have a Book of Memories where we write
about the people we meet and play for. It’s a very special book and I hope we
will never lose it on the trip. We also take many pictures and videos because
we don’t have space in the van for physical souvenirs. People keep on giving us
gifts and it’s so wonderful, but we are cramped for space,” concludes Liesbeth.
