Arlene Halley (centre) and Loes Nauta (right) from National Institute of Arts (NIA) sign a cooperation agreement with Joris van der Grinten from Leerorkest Nederland, for a culturally enriching musical programme for primary school children.
PHILIPSBURG--Children across three primary schools are learning to play a variety of advanced musical instruments, with professional, hands-on training by eight local music teachers – a new and enriching addition to their educational experience and social-emotional learning and development.
This is thanks to the Leerorkest project from The Netherlands, in collaboration with the National Institute of Arts (NIA).
The programme, designed by the Leerorkest foundation and implemented on St. Maarten by NIA, is funded jointly by Leerorkest and the Fonds voor Cultuurparticipatie. It started coming to life in January and will run until June 2027. It is unique in its intensity, pedagogical depth, and structural integration within education, while many music or art programmes tend to be extracurricular and/or short-term.
The students aspire to make an exciting debut performance in June 2026. Participating in the culturally steeped programme are a whopping 198 students from groups 5 and 6 from the Sister Regina School, St Joseph School, and Methodist Agogic Centre (MAC), Rev. John A. Gumbs campus. The programme has also been rolled out in the other Dutch Caribbean islands. Participation takes place weekly, during school hours, and is free of charge - furthering the aim of making participation in the arts accessible.
Students at each school are being taught instruments that make up the orchestra - the trumpet, flute, bass guitar, saxophone, and some groups are also being taught the violin and percussion. Teaching the craft are teachers Neville James, Jose Pacheco, Stephan Apianai, Steven Brown, Roelof Matthew, Gregory Kranenburg, Dennis Amajan, and Leroy Vlaun.
The cooperation agreement was officially signed in person during a visit to St. Maarten by Leerorkest representative Joris van der Grinten. It was cosigned by NIA’s Arlene Halley and Loes Nauta, in the presence of two of the music teachers, James and Pacheco, on Tuesday.
