Catching Up 3: Agua

One of the nicest jobs I have is coaching the YoungNBE every year; the parallel ensemble of the Netherlands Wind Ensemble with ten young talented wind players from the Netherlands or studying at an Academy of Music in the Netherlands. This is how I got to know Teresa Costa, a great young flutist from Portugal. She and her musical partner Agostinho Sequeira did a tour with contemporary Dutch and Portuguese music to be performed in those two countries and asked me to write a piece for this tour. Agua is the result of that request. Here you can find more info on the piece and also a recording. Agostinho was the winner of the Tromp Percussion Competition in 2020, receiving also the audience prize and the Jan Pustjens press prize. Teresa is a great multi-talented artist, see a glimpse of that in this article.

Similar Posts

  • Xenon, Summerwinds and Ciudades!

    Last Thursday 1st of September 2022 I drove to a small town in Germany called Oelde to witness the premiere of the ‘four saxes plus symphony orchestra’ version of three Ciudades (Córdoba, Sarajevo and Addis Ababa). Performed by the wonderful Xenon Quartet and the Nord West Deutsche Phiharmonie in an open air venue in a…

  • New commission for clarinet solo

    When in Porto last week I got a phone call from clarinettist Harmen de Boer. He asked me if I would be interested writing a solo piece for clarinet for the upcoming https://www.facebook.com/klarinetfestival in the Amsterdam Muziekgebouw aan het IJ as he is co-hosting this huge festival. Did not take me too long to answer…

  • “E” de Esperanza Premiere

    Coming Friday 14th of April (2023) a new piece for accordion and string quintet (quartet + double bass) will be premiered! Called “‘E’ de Esperanza” it speaks of hope in times of tension and menace. All this because I had the good fortune to meet Vincent van Amsterdam, a great virtuoso and ambassador of his…

  • Cinc Poemes: Benimodo Premiere

    It is obvious that I have a great love for the Iberian peninsula, its cultures and its languages. I decided to translate that love into a cycle of 25 poems for soprano saxophone and choir in the 5 largest languages of Iberia. I am now halfway this project called ‘The Iberian Treasure’. I started with…

  • Catching up 5: Ríos (Rivers)

    One of the greatest events for me over the last years was the premiere of ‘Ríos’ (Rivers) by the NAKK (Nieuw Amsterdams Klarinet Kwartet) and the UvA Orchestra Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck (oldest symphony orchestra of Amsterdam, 144 years in 2022) under the guidance of conductor Konradin Herzog at the famous Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, 18th of…

  • Update on Clarinet pieces

    Yesterday I had a first run-through with Harmen de Boer, my friend and colleague at both the Netherlands Wind Ensemble and the Conservatorium van Amsterdam,  of the clarinet-version of Consecuencias. A very promising and interesting run-through. He will be premiering it with the Nostos String Quartet at the Lago@Splendor concert on March 28, 2016, at…