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Matthew From Amsterdam at Kennedy Center
On September 21st, Matthew From Amsterdam will provide a multimedia performance in DC
Fri, Sep 21 - Fri, Sep 21 2018
The Kennedy Center - Washington Embassy Region
On September 21st at 6PM, Dutch artist Matthew From Amsterdam will provide a multimedia musical performance and exploration of the African diaspora at the Millenium Stage of the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC. His concert will be free to attend, and will also be live streamed on Youtube here.
Matthew From Amsterdam
Matthias Bomgaars is a Dutch musician from the small town of Eindhoven. He found a cathartic release in creating music in his room. Exposed to a variety of music, Matthias decided to begin composing a series of songs to an old reel to reel he found in his father’s home. He instantly fell in love with the process of recording, he relocated to Amsterdam where he now enjoys the anonymity and the ability to continue to create incessantly. He decided to give himself an outlet to his music by taking the name Matthew From Amsterdam, as that was what his friends abroad called him. His initial foray into freeing his music is entitled Good English – a neoclassical interpretation dedicated to the art of composition and the red light district in Amsterdam.
Matthias decided to explore his heritage through travels to West Africa. In Senegal, he fell in love with the sounds of Afrobeat and Kuduro these influences can be heard on Wau Wau Defa Cool, at this point he decided to dedicate his musical explorations into celebrating the music of the African diaspora. Most recently he released Tudo Bem after his thoughts of the favela’s and the displacement of people to accommodate the 2016 Olympic villages. The oxymoronic idea of building that village from the ashes of ousted communities – then we juxtapose those images against Brazilian culture, the overall acceptance of the human body, incredible music, weather, the ocean, the food and then those very same people from all walks and spaces and we see the stark contrast. Matthew continues to celebrate the sounds of the African diaspora and moves to continue to push his art form and music culture-forward.