Aedifica surprises its Dutch residents with classical music

Aedifica cares deeply about its residents and always tries to go the extra mile. As part of our community engagement programme, we are treating two care residences in the Netherlands to a musical event. First in line were the residents of Parc Imstenrade in Heerlen (Netherlands), the largest healthcare facility in Aedifica’s real estate portfolio. At the beginning of July, we surprised them with a classical concert by the Philomela Foundation.

With our community engagement programme, we want to further develop a dialogue with the people who live in our properties: our elderly and their caretakers.
Stefaan Gielens – CEO Aedifica

Philomela is a Dutch non-profit organisation that wants to connect people from different cultures, ages or social backgrounds through classical music in an accessible and interactive way. The foundation organises concerts for and with people with care needs, migrants and children and tries to make people enthusiastic for music, for each other and for others. Philomela creates specific music programmes for the elderly and performs recitals in care homes on a regular basis.

In the inner garden of Parc Imstenrade, mezzo-soprano Merel Huizinga, accompanied on the piano, sang for more than 250 elderly persons and the accompanying staff. She performed the concert L’amour est un oiseau, which includes well-known Italian, French and Dutch classical music. Because of Covid-19 measures, it was a concert ‘behind glass’: the residents in the apartments overlooking the inner garden could enjoy the concert from their open windows, giving the rest of the audience space to spread out over the garden and keep sufficient distance from each other.

The residents’ enthusiastic reactions made it clear that, despite the unusual location, the concert was highly appreciated and that there was a taste for more. Soon, the residents of a second Aedifica property in the Netherlands will also be able to enjoy live classical music.