The Royal Oude Harmonie, often referred to by their abbreviation KOH or the Limburgish term De Blôw, is a music association with a concert band and percussion ensemble from Eijsden, which was founded in 1874.
In 1949 the Oude Harmonie was the first association in Eijsden to receive the designation "Royal" or "Koninklijk" in Dutch.
In 1963, the Royal Oude Harmonie, under the direction of the then conductor Matthijs Scheffer, was promoted to the highest level: the Superior Division of the Limburgse bond van harmoniegezelschappen (Limburgish Association of Harmony Societies) in the Federatie van Katholieke Muziekbonden in Nederland (Federation of Catholic Music Associations in the Netherlands). New highlights were the musical performances delivered in 1988/1989 under the direction of conductor Jean Steutelings.
In 1993, the Royal Oude Harmonie, conducted by Ben Essers, took part in the World Music Contest (WMC) in Kerkrade and delivered a huge performance. In 1997 this result was surpassed. In 2013, the KOH took part in the WMC again, where a top score of 95.75 was achieved in the First Division Wind Band. With this point total, the KOH is the reigning Dutch champion in his division and vice world champion.
Concert band
Conductors Years Name Title 1874 - 1883 Nicolaas Petrus van Polfliet 1883 - 1890 Jean Defèsche 1890 - 1893 J. Uutterwulghe 1893 - 1931 Guustaaf Francies de Pauw 1931 - 1937 Léon Verhaeghe Honorary conductor 1937 Jean Thijssens 1938 - 1939 Maurice Motte 1939 - 1942 Jean Claessens 1942 - 1945 World War II 1945 - 1948 Maurice Motte 1948 - 1949 Pierre Bovy 1949 - 1957 Jean Wolfs 1957 - 1958 Harrie Biessen Honorary conductor 1959 Jos Diederen 1959 - 1977 Matthijs Scheffer Honorary conductor 1977 - 1989 Jean Steutelings 1989 - 2006 Ben Essers Honorary conductor 2006 - 2010 Steven Walker 2010 - present Jacques Claessens
Percussion ensemble
Musical leaders Years Name 1949 - ???? Dhr. Geurts ???? - 1960 Jacques Janssen 1960 - 1965 André Heye 1965 - 1976 Martin Warnier 1976 - 1977 Louis Wolfs 1977 - 1991 Martin Warnier 1991 - 1996 Hans Croes 1996 - 2010 Frank Marx 2010 - present Henrico Stevens
Trivia In Eijsden the harmony is also known as "De Blôw", because of the blue color of the caps. This distinction is necessary in Eijsden, because there is another concert band in Eijsden, namely the Royal Harmonie Sainte Cécile Eijsden, which are called "De Roei", because of the red color of their caps.
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