André Rieu Writes for Eigen Bedrijf: "Flexible Rules"

André Rieu Writes FLEXIBLE RULES

André Rieu

Eigen Bedrijf October 7, 2010: In the previous issue I wrote you all that we were busy bringing a South African children's choir to the Netherlands for the Vrijthof Concerts. I can tell you, it worked. And I'm extremely proud of that. In the meantime, the South African concerts with sixty children with ages between twelve and fifteen years, are behind us and it was phenomenal.

The idea came to me when I visited a township in Hout Bay/Cape Town in May, where I was struck by the joy in which the children were making music, and also by the appalling conditions in which they live. I invited the choir to attend one of my concerts in Cape Town, which they did. Afterwards backstage they began to sing spontaneously and it was one big party. "You must come to Maastricht" I cried with enthusiasm. They looked at me puzzled. "Say that it is in Europe, the Netherlands", Pierre my son whispered in my ear and when I said that, they fell over. And not just them .......... our own Frans Neus, responsible for guest appearances and special projects, turned pale when he realized what was facing him, "How do I get sixty children and their chaparones to the Netherlands without passports?"

It turned out not so bad after all. "Only" thirty children did not have a passport or birth certificate. Can you imagine: these people are not living in a very technically era. We had a contact in the Foreign Affairs Office and also our partner in South Africa was helping us in getting in contact with the South African government which was also very willing. To obtain a birth certificate you have to have a father and mother. The mother could easily be found, but the father? He could be this one or that one, or his brother or his neighbor or an uncle, in short, we were pleased that the government was so very flexible regarding its rules. On the day of the general rehearsal the choir arrived in Maastricht, a very great moment.

Not always are we in countries when we perform where we are treated with so much courtesy and responsiveness. I remember our tour through the U.S. in 2007 where we traversed all the states in our own three buses. In New Mexico, our buses were taken off the road by the border patrol (Truck/bus inspection station). We did not have the proper documentation and had to use all of our best persuasion powers that day to ensure that our Dutch driver did not spend the night in jail. In no other state did we ever encounter any problems so far, but this officer would not budge. And for whatever reasons which are still unclear to me today, we eventually had to hire buses to pick us up and bring us to the concert location. I mean, we need rules in a society, but when a little flexibility is shown at the proper time to let a company function happily, that is indispensable.

André Rieu

Thanks to Ineke for sending this and John for his copyright ©Translation