Gus Brest van Kempen

Orchestra Member

Instrument

Violin I

Year Joined

1986

Most memorable performance with the ESO

Beethoven’s Symphony No.9 in March 2011

Favorite ESO soloist

Mathieu Dufour and our very own Lawrence Eckerling, conductor and pianist in Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue

Why I like playing with the ESO

Goethe said: “I call architecture frozen music.” Making music and architecture have been my combined creative passions in life. I have treasured my musical experience with the ESO, which started at the suggestion of a couple who lived nearby and who had heard me practice at home – both were ESO musicians.

Favorite composer or piece

Beethoven’s Symphony No.9

When I’m not playing with the ESO, I’m…

Playing violin in other ensembles, such as the Savoyaires and the Chicago Do-It-Yourself Messiah, and playing tennis.

Something most people don’t know about me

I was born in Jakarta, Indonesia, of Dutch parents, about 3 years before the Japanese invasion in WWII, and survived our years in Japanese prison camps along with my mother and brother. In 1985 I carried out a research project in Algeria funded by a Fulbright Grant to record “The Evolution of Algeria’s University Infrastructure since Independence.” After that I became Consultant Architect with The World Bank for health and education projects around the globe.