Fred Vogels
I don’t skate or play football
I am not a super CEO. I am not Hans Zimmer, Tim Cook or J.S. Bach, but I have written music you may love. In fact, if you have more than 24 hours, you will probably find something you like among my 40 albums and hundreds of compositions.
When I look back, I see a rather strange collection of things I have created for people: music, films, websites, cultural projects and organisations. I have been a composer, manager, founder, co-founder, organiser and creator. I built WW2 History Europe because I wanted to understand — and preserve — the story of D-Day and the Second World War in Europe. I don’t create things simply to have created them. I like a goal. Something that matters. Something that can make a difference to people.
My character is simple: I am direct. But I am not interested in being direct with people who disregard their own values, their interests or mine. I believe in respect, honesty and the freedom to think differently. I love people. I love music. I am fascinated by history. I love to create. I organise, I build organisations, I solve problems and I connect things that perhaps were never meant to be connected. And when we work together, my mind will be busy for you.
I have a lot of skills. Other people seem to think so too — you can read what they say about me in my testimonials. But there is something else you should know: I am over 70. For some people, that will be a disadvantage. For me, it is mostly an enormous advantage. I have had more time to make mistakes, to learn, to start again, to meet people, to listen, to create and to discover that the things you know at 30 are not necessarily the things you know at 70. I still have ideas. Perhaps too many.
I still want to use what I have learned. I like giving my skills and my experience to music, to organisations and, ultimately, to people.
WW2 History Europe
WW2 History Europe is my attempt to build the story of D-Day — before it, from the RAF and USAAF preparations, and beyond it, from Normandy towards the Baltic. The project brings together divisions, regiments, battalions, Navy and Air Force units from the Allied countries, events, stories, locations and dates covering the period from 1 September 1939 to 8 May 1945. It is not simply a database to me. It is an attempt to keep people and their stories from disappearing into history. And yes, I designed and built the website myself.
Music
I am a composer for film, television and dance. I have written music for many different purposes, but some of my most important work came from subjects I could not simply walk away from. Night and Fog is one of them. The film shows the final days and aftermath of the Holocaust. I wrote my music for it because I felt I had to compose it my way. Not because somebody told me to. Because I could not remain silent.
Another major project was Music Inspired by D-Day, my musical journey through the Second World War. These projects are difficult to explain in a CV. They are much easier to understand when you listen. So listen. Listen to the music on Spotify. They know me there — as long as you keep listening.
I have also built my own music world, with 40 albums and hundreds of compositions.
And then there are the people
One of the photographs I treasure shows me meeting Dame Vera Lynn. I was telling her about the music I had created for WW2 History Europe. That photograph says something about my life better than a CV ever could.
Music brought me to history. History brought me to people. And people brought me back to music. That circle has never really stopped.
So, important? Perhaps. But I am not very good at deciding what is important about myself. I would rather create something, listen to something, build something, or sit down with somebody and see what happens.
Be prepared when we work together. You will probably have an exciting period. You will not be disappointed. But I am not common. I have never had a standard CV. That is my problem. And my luck.
Perhaps I am the mirror you do — or don’t — want to see. Perhaps I am your solution. Or perhaps we will simply discover something neither of us expected.
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