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Sjoerd Westra
If there is one man in Europe who is responsible for the development of traditional marching over the last 40 years, it would be Sjoerd Westra. Bands across Europe know his achievements. His career started in the 60s as a Royal Dutch Marine Corps Musician, when he traveled all over Europe and saw the beauty of all the different styles in Europe which is unlike anywhere else in the world. He saw drumming from Scotland, Switzerland, France, Scandinavia and more. Sjoerd listened to it and got inspired. He was also inspired by the uniforms used by the Army and Navy Corps.
Not long after the sudden death of Mr Pasveer, the founder of north Holland’s Pasveercorps, Sjoerd took over this upcoming band. “Pasveer” became his creation. During the 70s he developed something special, new and thrilling, not only in sound but also in appearance. Everybody throughout the marching world knows “Pasveer” and how it has developed to its current elite level. Numerous world champion titles have come into Sjoerd’s hands.
Also in the 70s, Sjoerd started to work with “Advendo” Sneek, another thrilling band from the heart of Frysland, and again developed a very special drum style. Unlike the flute and drums of “Pasveer”, “Advendo” includes brass and drums. Sjoerd took a totally different approach to let “Advendo” swing and flow as never heard before. Today “Advendo”is the world leader in traditional marching and has been developed for the whole world. Together with “Pasveer”, it is the current Marching Parade style for official competition during the “WMC” world championships.
New
endorsers are usually young new artists. Sjoerd Westra is in fact already in his 60s.
Sjoerd has always stayed close to the development of marching drums for Majestic. He
was instrumental in the development of our current Marine drum and even worked on our
traditional Endeavor drum line. Majestic Holland wants to thank him for all the work
he has done in the past and for all the work he is still doing. Sjoerd works hard for
his pupils and still inspires the percussionists of tomorrow. Although he was always
with us we wanted to publicly acknowledge our senior endorser for Majestic marching drums:
Mr Sjoerd Westra.
Currently Mr Sjoerd Westra travels throughout Holland, judging and coaching lots of marching
bands. If you and your band are interested in a coaching lesson, please contact vulperhorst@majestic-percussion.com.
Personally
I, Peter Vulperhorst, am very proud to know him. Not only did Sjoerd teach me my first
rolls and techniques, but I took “Pasveer” over from him in the 90s and then married
his daughter in 1995.
The story of Majestic as a family tradition continues. Third generation Julian
Vulperhorst is the youngest endorser for Majestic and is shown with the coolest drum for children,
the ESS 1335S, on our marching page.