He tours Zeeland's nursing homes with his accordion and orchestra, gives workshops in Hungarian folk dance, plays the piano, percussion and sings.
Water Management lecturer and Aquaculture researcher Jouke Heringa is someone who does all kinds of things out of office hours. But an expert at everything? That's taking it a bit too far: "I can do a bit of a lot of things, but don't usually excel at them either".
When Jouke talks about the things he does outside the HZ, the element of surprise is never far away. It is a conversation full of detours, sideways stories, always returning to the point where he left off. But no matter how winding the route, in the end almost every path leads back to one thing: his love of music. Whether he listens to it, plays it or dances to it, Jouke cannot do without music. "If anything can touch me deeply, it's music. And I love conveying that feeling to others." As a musician, he finds his most grateful audience in Zeeland's care homes, between which he tours voluntarily with the orchestra Hora Nomada. "We play folk music and the residents get a delicious Zeeland bolus to go with it. Something special always develops during such a performance. I can really enjoy that."
"The other day we played a Macedonian song. There was a woman sitting at the front, who was in an advanced phase of dementia. She stood up, started dancing and did all the steps perfectly. Or an old opera singer singing along We'll Meet Again word for word - and with full force. That someone at such a moment finds something in himself or herself that he or she had lost; I find that beautiful. But you know what I enjoy just as much? When people slowly fall asleep in their seats. Then they are completely at ease with the sounds of the music. Lovely, isn't it?"
I am a generalist. Someone who thinks he knows about everything, and can talk about everything, but always to a certain extent.
Generalist
No, Jouke wouldn't call himself a thoroughbred accordionist. "I can do it, just like I know my way around on keys, double bass or with percussion. And I can sing a bit. I can get on with a lot of instruments, but again I don't really excel at anything." Then, smiling: "In that respect, I do see parallels with my work. I am a generalist. Someone who thinks he knows everything, and can talk about everything, but always to a certain extent."
Sentimental
Of all musical styles, folk music has a special place in Jouke's heart. "I can be a sentimental person and you can find a lot of feeling in folk music. Hungarian folk music really stuck to me for that reason. There is a lot of melancholy in it. Sometimes it's really tear-jerkers, full of misery and misfortune. Hungarians are not the most optimistic people, but they can sing and play their tragedy beautifully. With lots of drama, delicious."
Hungarian dance
That Hungarian folk music led Jouke to the one passion in which he can truly call himself an expert. Together with his wife Hedy, he is a specialist in Hungarian dance. "We have been doing that very intensively for about 35 years. We give master classes and workshops to dancers from home and abroad. It really is a community. We have a dance house every month and about 60 people come. I'm going to a dance camp in Transylvania again this summer, to refresh a certain style. You can vary endlessly in styles and patterns with Hungarian dance, because almost every Hungarian village dances differently."
"My fascination with Hungarian dance actually had little to do with the country of Hungary, but purely with the dance and the music. It can really touch my heart. I came into contact with it during a dance course and it immediately grabbed me. There was a click between the music and the dance that I don't feel so strongly anywhere else. I tried tango too, but I didn't feel it there. By the way, the woman who taught the course at the time has also remained in my life, because that was Hedy."
Dancing in an HZ cycling suit
And then there is that story about the French Alps. "Besides music and dance, I also really like cycling. And so a few years ago I went into the mountains with colleagues through HZ Sport. At one point, I lost the group. At the foot of the Col de la Croix de Fer, I rode past a cottage from which Hungarian music sounded. I immediately thought: how can this be? What is going on there? I decided to walk inside. A minute later I was standing, in my HZ cycling outfit, in a room full of dancing Hungarians from all corners of Europe. With live orchestra. I took off my shoes and started dancing along. Fifteen minutes later I was back on my bike. Unreal. I wondered several times when looking back at my colleagues if it was a dream."
30 years of HZ
The HZ band's musical performance is not the last time we will see Jouke at the HZ: there will be another farewell on Friday August 29 at the Green Forest. As summer approaches, the realisation is growing stronger that the HZ chapter is really finished after that. "That I stayed at HZ for so long says a lot. For a generalist, who gets satisfaction from connecting people and things, HZ is a great place. Numerous initiatives come along at HZ that you can put your energy into. I have boarded many trains or set them in motion myself in those 30 years, and no day has been the same. For me, it has been a wonderful time!
"What will I miss the most? I think mainly the contact with all my HZ colleagues and the people in the external network. I hope to see many of them at my farewell on August 29." And after that? Lots of music, of course. But also good cycling. "Preferably with the wind in your favour, and then just see where you end up."
Water Management
How do we deal with floods, sea level rise, drought, water pollution and plastic soup? How does a city remain liveable despite extreme heat? And how do we ensure sufficient clean drinking water for a growing world population? With the Water Management programme, you will work on solutions to the water problems of today and the future.
Read more about this study programme