Première piano trio 'De tout mon coeur' by the Atlantic Trio.

december 2009 – On December 13, 2009 the Atlantic Trio played the first performance of my new piano trio in a fine programme that featured Beethoven op.1:1 en Mendelssohn’s 2nd trio…

Willem Wander in Figi The first night of my piano trio in Figi Theatre in Zeist on December 13 was quite impressive. After a year of work and months of preparation I felt slightly apprehensive, and after the opening performance of Beethoven’s trio opus 1 no. 1 it was quite a relief to be allowed to go on stage to say a few words about the music and its origins. It gives one something to do, at least (programme notes to the piece will appear here.) The performance left little to be desired. The Atlantic Trio was clearly very well prepared, because even though this was the ‘real’ (Dutch) premiere, they had already performed the piece several times on their own festival in Norway, and three of the movements in the Atlantic Festival in Vught.

It is the best thing to receive an applause that comes from a heartfelt emotional consensus, and the response was indeed overwhelming in the great understanding and emotional affinity that people showed. And this certainly was not an audience eager for ‘modern’ music! I was sometimes nearly shocked by the way in which some put their finger on episodes in the music that I feel are important, and no less by the psychological and even metaphysical conjectures they evoked.

So the after-party was full of intense conversation. A word of thanks to the Figi management, present in the person of general manager Jos Ruijs, who offered free drinks which no doubt contributed to the festive feelings.
In the first quarter of 2010 the Atlantic Trio will play the trio at least six times throughout Holland (the play list is on the website of pianist Bas Verheijden. I am looking forward to more performances, and a recording!

About me

Musical beauty and simplicity are my aim. My guiding principle is the classical European tradition. Folk music, church music and Early Music are the sources to which I return to seek new melodic beauty. I value musical craftsmanship and intuition highly. Musicians are my first audience. It is their virtuosic interplay, comic or dramatic, but always emotionally charged, that is the musical theater my music presents to the listener. The sounds I cherish most are those that through the musician’s hearts, breath and hands bear the mark of their personal interpretation.
Chamber music is, therefore, central to me – I have written for the Bennewitz Quartet and Harry-Imre Dijkstra, the Skampa Quartet, Rosanne Philippens, the Bartók Trio, the Utrecht String Quartet and many others.
My chamber music for recorders has a special place in my work and is played in large numbers by amateurs. The CD Kadanza is a fruit of decades of collaboration with the best professionals who were often also the best teachers.
For me, choral music is also a species of chamber music. It should challenge and offer musical satisfaction to those many amateur singers – that I am one of.

My music features individual performers – to convey a thought, an emotion, and a story to the audience in a virtuoso and intense fashion.

In rehearsal and performance, the performers and I learn a lot from each other. Sometimes their improvisations are included in the musical story. Scores will always be adapted to their needs.

The interplay between performer and composer is absolutely essential in newly written music. As is the interplay between sponsor and composer.

Would you like me to rehearse with you or do you want to know more about a piece?

Do you want me to write a piece for a particular line-up or event?

Please let me know and I will contact you.

Besides composing, I lecture in New Music at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam, with a focus on chamber music and music aesthetics. Some of the writing and thinking that I do there can be found in the ‘text’ section.