Load my cannon, do the Busstop
July news and views from me for you
Dear friends,
As the Summer break approaches, I am already in full Mojito-mode and looking forward to a pause. It’s been a fruitful year with a lots of really nice concerts, exciting premières and recordings (three of which will be released this Autumn). Reflecting on the past year I can only be thankful for all the opportunities I’ve had and for the wonderful musicians I get to work with. However, it hasn’t all been rosy; my dad passed away in September and only recently my old teacher - in many ways my musical dad - died too. Below is a little story I wrote about him.
The best thing I did these past months was to move away from all things Meta, and use Substack and Bluesky as my only social media channels. I know it seems quite a big step to give up Facebook, Insta and Whatsapp but believe you me, I haven’t missed them for a second. Instead, I have much more time to focus on the things that matter; things like music or this newsletter for example. Speaking of which….:
New pieces to download
You may have noticed that on my website I have a page where you can download the sheet music for some of my works. I have just uploaded two more pieces:
Elegies (1) for contrabass and piano, composed for the great bassist and good friend Wilmar de Visser. Quite a virtuoso piece and very rewarding to play. I’ve heard Wilmar play it in concert and it was wonderful.
Isabella’s Funkybone for trombone (and dance) was commissioned by an 11-year old who wanted something fun to play. I published it on my site on request. A link to some dance instructions (the Busstop, the Hustle etc) is included in the sheet music (the dancing is mandatory!)
Looking ahead
In september and October I will perform a new program with Mike Fentross and our special guest, soprano Johannette Zomer. The program is called Memento and will feature music by Arvo Pärt, Reynaldo Hahn (see the video above) and more. For this project I will compose a piece using a text by Sappho. (Who?) The concert dates will be in my next newsletter.
My trio DASH! continues the Radio Rotor concert series from the end of August, and in September we will release a new live album called Radio Rotor on the Road. This was recorded in the Bimhuis last April and we’re really happy with it. Release date TBA, so stay tuned!
Also to be released this Autumn: A new album with Rima Khcheich (yes!!) which we recorded in February, and of course BACH, the new album with Mike Fentross featuring the Goldberg Variations. Quite a few things to look forward to but there is more. Cellist Frances-Marie Uitti and I are in the middle of our new and exciting project Al-kīmiyā, which will be a CD and a book with new music in notation and graphic scores. Also, I am preparing a new opera (yup) that will be premiered in 2027. As part of the composition proces I’m going to stay on tiny Fair Isle for a whole month. If you’re wondering where that is, just look here. And then there is the song cycle about Gaza that I’m composing, but more about that later.