Almost there: Uitgast Festival 2019! On the 31st of August and the 1st of September the Nature Park of Lelystad will fill itself with a great audience and wonderful musicians. It’s the 3rd time in a row Marijke made the program. More info about the festival on www.uitgast.nl
After 5 years of playing together the Nederlands Saxofoon Octet will almost present her debut-cd with the famous ‘Canto Ostinato’ on it. After a busy summer with concerts during the Oranjewoud Festival, Wonderfeel, Festival Classique, Lindegrachtconcerten Alkmaar, Uitgast & Grachtenfestival Amsterdam it’s almost time for the official cd-presentation which will take place in Concertgebouw Amsterdam. Tickets are for sale on the website of Concertgebouw.
Saxyon gave a few very nice, international, concerts in the summer of 2019. They played at the Euro Chamber Music Festival Gdansk, Poland and they got invited to the Grieg Festival Bergen, Norway.
Melisma started a very nice collaboration in 2019 with violinist Gwendolyn Masin. Together they gave concerts in Switzerland, a.o. at the GAIA-festival where a live-recording was made and will be published under Naxos soon at Spotify.
It was a great start of the year with the Bern Symphonic Orchestra and her concerts from the Kursaal. On the program a.o. Gershwin & Bernstein.
On the 1st and 2nd of September 2018 the Uitgast Festival took place in Lelystad. It was the 2nd time Marijke was the programmer of this festival and it was a very successful edition. A.o. the Flevopost wrote a very nice article about the outdoor festival.
June 2018 Melisma went back to China for another Chinese tour! This concerts in the concert halls of a.o. Xi’An, Haerbin and Jiangmen. This year more concerts will still follow in Holland, Switzerland and Spain.
Saxyon released their debut cd NO FILTER. A fairly modern title for something that’s really old: just pure music making without ego and disguise. The listener can enjoy the unique blending and the duo’s fresh view to the true beauty of Frescobaldi’s and Bach’s music and the powerful and effortless approach of the 20th/ 21st Century compositions by Martinu, Lutoslawski, Mussorgsky and Ad Wammes. More info on the website of the label: 7 mountain records.
20 years of Guggenheim Museum Bilbao. ART & SCIENCE! Last month we (Nederlands Saxofoon Octet) travelled to Bilbao to participate in ‘Chasmata’. A show to celebrate 20 years of Guggenheim Bilbao.
‘Chasmata’ will take to audience on a journey ‘into space’ through unpublished images of Mars and the presence of astronaut Pedro Duque, who will share with the participants a message coming from the International Space Station.
It was a spectacular concert!
After years of playing together Ellen and Marijke thought it was about time for the first SaxYOn CD. The project was presented on VoorDeKunst and they achieved 106% of their goal. The recording took place in the Westvestkerk Schiedam and will be released in the beginning of November with the music label 7MNTN.
Mexican composer Enrique Mendoza composed a new piece for bass saxophone and tape last year. The piece, called ‘Over Hunted’ was financed by the Dutch ‘Fonds Podiumkunsten’ and dedicated to Marijke. It’s a great piece which has been performed several times by now; in and outside of Holland.
Had a great summer with the Melisma Quartet and concerts in Mexico, Norway and Switzerland!
Nice review about Melisma’s concert in Murten, Switzerland.
Nice review in the Spanish magazine ‘Clasica2’ about Melisma’s cd!
Nice review in the Dutch magazine ‘De Nieuwe Koers’ and on the website of Guillermo Lago about Melisma’s cd. On the cd three pieces can be found by him. Guillermo writes:
‘On the doormat today a very nice present: the new CD by the Melisma Saxophone Quartet with music by Bach, Grieg, Ligeti and Lago. The Melisma is a very international group (Netherlands, Denmark, Spain, Switzerland) and they all graduated from the Amsterdam Conservatory with Arno Bornkamp (and a bit with me as I take over the saxophone class three times a year). So we go back some time and I am always very happy to meet them and hear the group perform. David, Marijke, Henriette and Jonas have done a wonderful job, the recording is very crisp and transparent and full of musical depth and intelligence. Movements from Grieg’s Holberg Suite, Bach’s Italian Concerto, Ligeti Bagatelles and finally three of my Ciudades (Córdoba, Sarajevo and Addis Ababa) : a wonderful opportunity to get acquainted with this lovely quartet.’
Nice review in the newspaper the 11th of January about the concert SaxYOn gave a few days earlier in Mosterdzaadje Santpoort-Noord.
Melisma Saxophone Quartet brings out their very first cd! If you’d like to order one please sent me an e-mail and you’ll get some instructions. On the cd are works by Grieg, Bach, Ligeti & Lago. We hope you’ll enjoy!
A great summer with very various concert locations! Thanks to a.o. Noorderzon Groningen, Zwarte Cross Lichtenvoorde, Grieg in Bergen (Norway), Oseana Kammer Fest (Norway) and Musiksommer am Zürichsee (Switzerland).
Composer Bernard van Beurden wrote a new composition called ‘Who Knows… Wer Weisz’ for SaxYOn. Later this year in November the premiere of ‘So Many Roads’ by Ad Wammes and also written for Ellen and Marijke will follow.
The Melisma Saxophone Quartet recorded a cd together with singer Meindert Talma. The cd is about the life of the famous Hendrik Werkman from the very north of Holland. Melisma and Meindert will perform the cd in live a few times more, so if you’re interested please take a look in the agenda!
Melisma goes China! April 2015 was an exciting moment for Melisma; their very first tour in China. It was a great succes and they gave 9 performances, from the National Centre for the Performing Arts Beijing till the Opera House Guangzhou.
