Annemaartje Laeven & Janne de Waard

The theme of this year's Grachtenfestival is Green! As a result, the house, garden, and rooftop terrace concerts have been replaced by a series of performances held in and around Amsterdam’s famous canal gardens.

When the canal belt was originally designed, gardens were incorporated into the plan as well. Hidden behind the façades of the grand canal houses, these gardens form the city's secret green spaces. A 17th-century law still protects many of these gardens today.

Especially for this year's festival, a number of these normally inaccessible gardens will be open to the public and host special concerts

With sonatas by Diogenio Bigaglia, George Frideric Handel, Anton Heberle, and Dario Castello, this Baroque programme places the recorder centre stage. From Castello’s free, almost improvisatory style to Handel’s elegant sonatas and Heberle’s virtuosic Sonata Brillante, each work reveals a different facet of the instrument. Together with the harpsichord, the duo demonstrates the recorder’s place in a fully fledged chamber music partnership.

Rising recorder player Annemaartje Laeven has studied at the Sweelinck Academy since 2025 with Hester Groenleer. She has already performed as a recorder player, pianist, and singer, and plays instruments made by recorder builder Tom de Vries. Harpsichordist Janne de Waard completed the Sweelinck Academy in 2026 and continues her studies with Menno van Delft at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam. She has previously performed at Klassiek op het Amstelveld and at the Piano Solo Lab in Italy.

Musicians

Annemaartje Laeven recorder 

Janne de Waard harpsichord

You will receive information about the concert venue by email the day before the concert.