June 2018: Mestrom Chandeliers Gallery presents: Laura Engel and Christien Petrou, sopranos, accompanied by Bob Heuvelmans harp. Wednesday July 11, 2018 at 4 PM - 6.30 PM Sunday July 15, 2018 at 4 PM - 6.30 PM Wednesday July 18, 2018 at 8 PM - 10.30 PM. Tickets: € 19,50. Mail for tickets: pascal@mestromchandeliers.com You’ll receive the way of payment with your confirmation. You can get the tickets at arrival at the gallery. You can also buy tickets at the venue. The gallery address: St. Annalaan 42, Maastricht. Public transport: From the busstop at the Boschstraat 32 (near the Market place where the Town Hall is), take bus 6 (direction Daalhof), or bus 2 (direction Oud Caberg), or bus 5 (direction Daalhof), or bus 1 (direction Malberg). The buses come every 5 or 10 minutes. Duration of the bus trip to the St. Annalaan is about 15 minutes. It’s a 20 minutes walk from the Vrijthof.

From Hashtag Maastricht. Interviewer and translator: Denis Kurris, blogger. July 2018. Interview with Laura Engel, Christina Petrou, Bob Heuvelmans. New this year during the André Rieu Fan Days in “Jouw Marktkraam Maastricht“ were harpist/choir singer Bob Heuvelmans and the two sopranos Laura Engel and Christina Petrou. The Dutch-born Bob and the Dutch-Chilean Laura go way back, the British-Greek Christina has later joined them. The Johann Strauss Orchestra is the place where this musical trio came about. In July 2018 this group will give three concerts in the Mestrom Chandeliers Gallery on the Sint Annalaan 42 in Maastricht. The reason for this, is that they would like to sing their own take on classical music in an intimate setting. Reason enough for HashtagMaastricht to meet up with Laura, Bob and Christina to interview them about these upcoming concerts. Why stand-alone concerts next to the André Rieu concerts? “The reason why we wanted to do stand-alone concerts next to the André Rieu concerts, is because we want to play and sing our own take on classical music. Something else for audiences to enjoy. The concerts will consist out of classical influences, mixed with Latin sounds. Just three nights of thrilling and varied music, which will charm our audiences, and will leave a lasting impression on them”, Laura says. “Bob needed time to adapt some of the songs we are going to perform during the concerts”, says Laura, “not all the songs we decided on were suitable to play on a harp, but it was a challenge and a collaboration that we really wanted to take on, and it paid of in the end, which is great. “The soprano tones of Laura compliment mine, and Bob’s harp play brings the music to a whole new musical level”, Christina adds. Two sopranos and a harp in a chandelier gallery, what about the acoustics? “The acoustics in the gallery are amazing. Some of the music sounds even better in this small-scale setting”, Bob tells us. “Needless to say that we have had rehearsals together, and our concert setlist sounds just great in the gallery. Some songs are not meant to be played on an enormous square with a huge audience; some songs need that sense of intimacy that the Mestrom Chandeliers Gallery most- definitely has.” Good to mention is also that the gallery where the concerts will be held is owned by Laura’s husband; this means that he is also the man behind the absolutely gorgeous antique chandeliers that are for sale in this gallery. Next to selling chandeliers, Gallery Mestrom Chandeliers wants to give a stage to a variety of different forms of art, and especially combinations of different art forms; so keep a close eye on this gallery, because there is more to come soon… Are you going to give your own concerts more often or is it a one-time thing? “It is not meant to be a one-time thing, but for now we are focusing on the concerts at hand. The collaboration between the three of us is amazing, so why not continue working together? We are going to think a whole lot about the locations and the frequency during our holidays” Laura says. “We have the concerts of André Rieu to look forward to, and these connect us more than anything. The Johann Strauss Orchestra is like one big family. We travel together, and there is still a lot to explore and discover on a professional level…”