Our ambassadors
Meet our ambassadors! We are proud and grateful that they want to dedicate themselves to Sounds for freedom. They contribute to more awareness for our projects and emphasize, each in their own way, the importance of music education within their network and environment. In this way, they help us to teach even more newcomers and refugee children in a sing-wise way and to let them integrate better.
Photo: Echt Mooij Fotografie
Ambassador Jeroen Schipper
"I am Jeroen Schipper, children's song writer and music teacher. With my songs and lessons I try to contribute to the development of children in a positive way on a daily basis. Development in the musical field, but also in the field of language, communication and social-emotional development. In addition, I see a social role for my songs.
Music can connect, welcome, change, strengthen and soften. And the way in which they achieve it fits in beautifully with this. So I am happy and very motivated to be able to contribute to this through my ambassadorship!"
Ambassador Mireille Bittar
Mireille Bittar is a great singer, songwriter and vocal coach from Syria. She studied in Damascus and later at the Conservatory of Amsterdam. Mireille is founder and artistic director of the Mosaic ensemble and has performed in many operas. She is also known from the TV show 'We want more'.
During the Sounds for freedom concerts, Mireille often sings accompanied by musicians Feras Khouri (piano) and Modar Salama (percussion). Together they make music that is close to our hearts: music from the Middle East but also from the Western classical tradition. In this way, they bring these two worlds together and build bridges between different cultures.
"I think it's a great concept to teach children the Dutch language through music. From my own experience, I know that children learn best through play. And that's exactly what we do in our lessons and with our songs. Making music, having fun and also learning the language; It's a wonderful combination."
Ambassador Maaike Mayer
Maaike is a multidimensional educational freelancer who explores various educational domains, with a focus on language education and multilingualism. Her passion for promoting language skills and embracing the diversity of languages and cultures in education is very important in her work.
"Music in the classroom not only provides joy, relaxation and connection, but also plays a crucial role in strengthening language skills. So I am very enthusiastic about providing the musicians with knowledge about language development to newcomers because I believe that every child, every newcomer has the right to 'Sounds for Freedom' in the classroom."