After skipping a few concerts by Het Nederlands Filmorkest (Dutch Film Orchestra), it was time to attend one again. I like attending their concerts because, as far as I know, this is the only Dutch orchestra that primarily focuses on film music. Instead of playing the same standard film music pieces that many other orchestras do, they focus on lesser-known soundtracks. Though I have seen the orchestra perform at several venues across the Netherlands, I had never caught them at TivoliVredenburg before, the hall where they perform most frequently. That finally changed when I attended their latest concert, Animation!, which was – as you might have guessed – a concert focused on soundtracks from animated movies.
A wonderful touch was the organization’s decision to divide the concert into four parts, each focusing on a major animation studio. The program started with music from Disney, the largest of the four, represented by three pieces spanning its long history. It was an excellent showcase of music from three diverse films, spanning different eras and composed by various composers, namely Mulan, 101 Dalmatians and Encanto.
The program featured a single piece from Spirited Away to represent Studio Ghibli. It is a remarkable score by Joe Hisaishi, and to my delight, the orchestra performed a long suite with music from the film. The music was already excellent, but what made the experience even better was the combination of the music with the images on a large screen.
After the intermission, it was time for music from Pixar movies, starting with The Incredibles, during which the orchestra showed its jazzy side. The next piece, from The Good Dinosaur, was quite a contrast. It is a more emotional score, and one I was less familiar with.
The last part was dedicated to DreamWorks, starting with music from their first animated film, The Prince of Egypt, which was a delight to experience live, as you do not often hear that piece. The last two pieces on the program were music from Shrek 1 & 2 and How to Train Your Dragon, both of which I know well and love, so I was happy to hear them as suites instead of standard music from those films. To wrap things up, we were treated to an encore, which was a piece from Toy Story 3, rounding off a thoroughly enjoyable evening.
Another aspect worth mentioning about the evening was host Jelle Amersfoort, a well-known Dutch voice actor who can be heard in numerous Dutch versions of various animations. He came onto stage in between the pieces to tell all kinds of anecdotes, many of them related to his young daughter, who did not like her father’s profession. These stories were quite entertaining and fit the animation theme perfectly.
After attending many concerts by this orchestra, my conclusion is much the same as before, and that consistency speaks for itself. I mentioned in previous conclusions that this orchestra is not a professional one, which results in some minor musical details that a professional orchestra could have done better, but they make up for it with their passion and very original program. They keep coming up with wonderful themes for their concerts, including this animation theme. At the moment I don’t know what their complete program is for the next concert, but it is probably one you should experience if you like film music!
Concert information
Where: TivoliVredenburg in Utrecht, the Netherlands
When: June 13, 2026
Orchestra: Het Nederlands Filmorkest conducted by Sander Vredenborg
Host: Jelle Amersfoort
Program
- Jerry Goldsmith – Mulan
- George Bruns– 101 Dalmatians
- Lin-Manuel Miranda – Encanto
- Joe Hisaishi – Spirited Away
Intermission
- Michael Giacchino – The Incredibles
- Mychael Danna / Jeff Danna – The Good Dinosaur
- Hans Zimmer – The Prince of Egypt
- Harry Gregson-Williams – Shrek 1 & 2
- John Powell – How to Train Your Dragon
- Randy Newman – Toy Story 3 (encore)
