A kid of six that serves a barrel organ? In Chaam they no longer look up. The Tilburg Juliën Wolleger is perhaps the youngest street organ in the Netherlands. Every Saturday he is happily playing with his own ‘Beks’ in the village. “He is just infected with it,” say his proud parents.
On his third he already started tapping rhythms with the ORGEL of Grandpa. And it didn’t stop there, because now Juliën inherited his own barrel organ: a beautiful old copy that still works with those old -fashioned booklets. No plug, no screen, just turning.
“His father had actually prepared another organ for him,” says mother Wolleger Omroep Tilburg“But Juliën was immediately in love with this one. Because everything is manual. There is more feeling about that.”
What does the young organman like best about his barrel organ? “The statuettes.” He also saves fanatic barrel booklets, in a box he already has around seventy copies. “This is my favorite,” he proudly shows with a thick book in his hands.
In the family
That the street organ is in the family of course helps. Grandpa used to run, and Pa is also infected with the barrel virus. But that their son takes over at such a young age? “We didn’t expect that, but we think it’s wonderful. He teaches people to address, sees how people enjoy. It is really a piece of Dutch heritage that he keeps alive.”
His mother Anita thinks it’s a gift. “We never have something compulsory but he still likes it. It is a very nice profession. The experience, the atmosphere, the cheerfulness. It has many beautiful sides.”