Concert Pollmann project brings Jop Pollmann Collection heritage project to a festive close

After a year and a half of cataloguing, research and editorial work on Jop Pollmann, a prominent scholar of folk songs, the collection is now ready to be presented to the wider public. The Koninklijk Conservatorium Brussel celebrates this in festive style with three concerts, performed by musicians Helena Schoeters, Osama Abdurasol and Tom Theuns. 

The musicians delved into Jop Pollmann’s impressive collection of songbooks to compose a musical programme centred on love and farewell, longing and loss, universal themes that have resonated in folk songs for centuries. Jop Pollmann’s collection, rich in historical song texts and melodies, was transferred to the heritage library of the Koninklijk Conservatorium Brussel in 2022. 

The three musicians selected texts and melodies from this collection and created fresh arrangements of familiar tunes. This musical project strikes a golden balance between the Flemish folk tradition and renewal, with danceable melodies and an open outlook across cultural boundaries. 

Helen Schoeters

Osama Abdulrasol

Tom Theuns