To what extent can music serve as a tool for liberation and cultural enrichment, and to what extent can it impose constraints?
Marek Susdorf takes us during this lecture through his research on Johannes Nicolaas Helstone (1853–1927), an Afro-Surinamese composer of Christian and classical music. Helstone was born at a time when slavery was still institutionalised by the Dutch in Suriname. He was raised by Moravian Brothers from the Evangelical Brethren Church (E.B.G.) and went on to become a prominent music educator, celebrated musician, and the author of what is now regarded as the first Surinamese opera. In this programme, Susdorf guides us through his research on the role of sound and music in the sociopolitical and economic transformations that took place in Suriname before, during, and shortly after the musician’s lifetime.
Program:
• 14.00 Doors open
• 14.30 Welcome and introduction, researching the Surinamica collection (Isabelle Best)
• 14.35 Introducing Helstone: Helstone’s legacy in the limelight (Astrid Helstone)
• 14.50 Fellowship lecture: Researching the story of Johannes Nicolaas Helstone (Marek Susdorf)
• 15.20 Q&A with Marek Sustorf
• 15.30 Closing words
Marek Susdorf
What opportunities and limitations did European music, as a force of colonial modernity, offer to Helstone and the communities in which he lived?
Marek Susdorf is a musical sociologist and, as part of the Helstone Fellowship, conducts research in the collections of the Allard Pierson, examining how music functioned within the broader power structures of Dutch colonialism. He explores the role of classical music within the colonial and postcolonial context of Suriname, with a particular focus on the oeuvre of Helstone and other composers from the Surinamese and Caribbean diaspora.
The Helstone Fellowship is funded through the recently established fund in the name of Astrid Helstone (great-grandniece of Johannes Nicolaas Helstone) and Diederik Burgersdijk at the Allard Pierson. Through this fund, they aim to stimulate research into the unique Helstone and Surinamica collections and to contribute to making underrepresented musical and cultural histories more accessible.
This event is in English.