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“I think it’s important to contribute to sharing knowledge and skills, especially with target groups who would not normally have access to talent development through regular channels,” says musician, singer, and music teacher Vanessa Veldhuis (43), who has Surinamese roots. This is also the mission of the organization VVFLEX, of which she is a member and which is primarily committed to vulnerable and disadvantaged target groups.

VVFLEX is an abbreviation that stands for Diversity, Versatility, and Flexibility in art, culture and people. Based on this vision, the cultural and social organization focuses on talent development, growth, professionalization and making talents and up-and-coming artists visible. Veldhuis would like to do another great project in Suriname. In the past, she collaborated with other parties on the project Urban Groove on the Move. As part of that project, the Hip Hop School FAYA was founded. The breakdance event Battle of the Year Caricom was also organized with an international exchange between groups from different countries and arranging for the winning group (Myztikalz) to participate in the world finals in Germany. “Unfortunately, things didn’t go entirely smoothly during these projects, but they were good concepts and initiatives with potential. If I ever get the chance again and have the means, I would definitely like to take it up again, where necessary and desired.” VVFLEX was founded in 2007. According to Veldhuis, the difference now is that the organization I  fully focused on the educational aspect of talent development, particularly music lessons, and no longer on (international) exchange projects and events. But that may change again in the future. “It was a bit of a struggle, because we were and are completely self-sufficient, but we are still here and at the moment, a nice stability has been created with my lesson offerings and the growth of my student base.” VVFLEX will expand this year with more instruments and disciplines. In addition to piano and drum lessons, there will also be guitar, bass guitar, singing/vocal training, DJ and beatmaking lessons, which will be provided by other teachers. Veldhuis is also affiliated with the Art Loca foundation in Almere as a music teacher. “I have been working at Art Loca for almost twelve years, since the beginning when they were still in their infancy and only did theater. Together with my partner Marlon, I started and expanded the music lessons there. After two years, we moved to a large building and everything grew explosively. Marlon passed away when we had only just moved there, and last October, the co-founder and partner of the founder also passed away, so we really share the good times and the bad.” Focus on her own career Veldhuis was born in the Netherlands to Surinamese parents. “Both are purebred Srananmans. My father came to the Netherlands in 1975

She is now focusing on her own career. She performs under the stage name Vanessa Marcia. “Those are my first name and middle name.” After her first releases, she had a few opportunities to perform, but shortly after that, the coronavirus pandemic hit, and Vanessa Marcia has not had any releases since. This year, she is releasing another song, her first in two years. It is a reggae song produced by the producer duo David Oron and Erik Ritfeld and features singer Marc Embrace. The musician does not want to be seen as a reggae singer. “I also make other styles: Afrobeats, Caribbean styles, but all with soul, R&B, funk, or jazz influences and fusions.” She has also done a few projects with other producers in genres including R&B, hip hop, and dance. One example is the song Spot Niet als (Don’t Spot It as), a campaign song in collaboration with the Dutch Cancer Society (KWF Kankerbestrijding), about stopping the use of the word cancer as a swear word. “This is “This is a Dutch-language mellow jazzy R&B song. I also have a dance song in garage style, produced by Symon Jason. I’ve done more projects with him.” Does she see a future in music? “To be honest, yes. Otherwise, I can always fall back on music lessons. The requests keep pouring in.” Vanessa Marcia is also thinking about starting her own backing band. In 2010, she started her own multi-ethnic women’s band, “Ladiesjam.” “Most likely, I’ll use my women’s band to accompany my songs.” Her fervent wish as a singer is to become known worldwide. “As an artist, I want to achieve as much as possible and reach as many listeners as possible.” Veldhuis has performed as a backing singer at various major festivals such as Reggae Geel and Smile Reggae Festival in Belgium, Reggae Jam in Germany, One Love Festival UK, Reggae Lake and Zwarte Cross Festival in the Netherlands, and Ruhr Festival in Germany. The Jamaican reggae artists Luciano, Lutan Fyah, Ras Midas, and Triston Palma, Nedra, Mo Ali (Sudanese reggae artist) are some of the artists she has performed with. “There have been many beautiful moments, I have met many beautiful and interesting people, but one of the things that touches me is the love and gratitude of people in the audience, which you get during or after the performances. Sometimes people want to Sometimes people want to touch me or shake my hand during shows, or people asked about me after a show, even though I was only the backing singer. Moments like that stay with me. I love being able to give, share, and touch people through music, and I always say, ‘It’s a blessing to be blessed with a blessing that blesses others.'”and my mother was already there, since 1968. They met in 1977 during a trip and in 1979 I was born.” Veldhuis also creates and produces music. In her younger years, she was influenced by different types of music styles, such as gospel, soul, R&B, jazz, hip hop, reggae, Latin, Afrobeats, kaseko, kawina (her traditional music), and other various types of Caribbean music styles. At a young age, she sang in the youth choir at the church where she also learned to play the piano. In addition to music, she also discovered her talent for acting and dancing. During her social career, she met many vulnerable, talented individuals who were all seeking support and assistance. This inspired her to start her own foundation, VVFLEX. After working for a long time as a backing vocalist and musician for other artists.