Willem Mengelberg studied music in Utrecht, Netherlands and at Cologne Conservatory. He had four years of experience conducting an orchestra in Lucerne. Then, in 1895, he was given the job which was to last him the rest of his working life: conductor of the Concertgebouw Orchestra. He took over this job from Willem Kes who had started the orchestra five years earlier. At Kes’s farewell concert on 25 October 1895 Mengelberg performed as solo pianist.