Consecuencias: Paulina Kulesza & Nostos

ByWillem van Merwijk

I had the pleasure and honor to be at all the saxophone exams at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam this summer (not so surprising as I am teaching there…). The saxophone class lead by my dear friend Arno Bornkamp is of amazing variety and artistry.
On Friday the 3rd of June three members of the Ebonit Quartet had their final Master Exams. The Ebonit performed many of my Ciudades and very wonderfully so (by heart…). Simone Müller, Johannes Pfeuffer and Paulina Kulesza made quite an impression with their heartwarming concerts.
Paulina approached me one minute after the world premiere of Consecuencias in November 2015: “I want to play this piece on my Master Exam, please Willem!” And so she did; together with three Nostos String Quartet players and Maren Bosma. An exemplary performance of the piece. She got her Master degree cum laude….!

Similar Posts

  • Wordsworth Poems Wereldpremiere

    ByWillem van Merwijk Hours

    Op een steenworp van de Houses of Parliament staat de St. John’s Smith Square, een kerk met een roerige geschiedenis. Ze werd gebouwd in 1710, brandde af in 1742, werd herbouwd en toen door de bliksem getroffen in 1815, herrees wederom en bood in het interbellum plaats aan een jongenskoor waar Benjamin Britten in korte…

  • New Works for Ties Mellema

    ByWillem van Merwijk Hours

    Very bad news just after the 2015 summer.  My friend and colleague Ties Mellema – I wrote quite a few pieces for him and his Amstel Quartet and he has been a great inspiration over many years – has been diagnosed with Hodgkin’s disease. He is now being treated and his chances of recovery are…

  • Catching up 4: Dos Caras (Two Faces)

    ByWillem van Merwijk Hours

    Over the years I have of course met quite some colleague saxophonists, but I think the most humorous and simultaneously intelligent colleague/friend is french saxophonist/composer/arranger Philippe Geiss. Alsatian born and since quite some time professor at Strassbourg Academy of Music he is traveling the world as a composer, teacher and musician.His interests and capacities go…

  • El Maestrat premiere

    ByWillem van Merwijk Hours

    Saturday the 22nd of November 2014 will see the premiere of my three movement piece El Maestrat. Commissioned by the Sax2014 Festival http://saxfestival.nl and written for a huge saxophone orchestra of amateur performers from all levels. Location: Muziekgebouw aan het IJ in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. The three movements all speak of ‘El Maestrat’ (Català)(El Maestrazgo…

  • Catching up 2: Leyendas… (Legends)

    ByWillem van Merwijk Hours

    In the summer of 2018 Zagreb (Croatia) hosted the World Saxophone Congress and there a longstanding wish came true: the premiere of a (substantial) concerto for alto saxophone and symphony orchestra written for my dear friend for over 35 years: Arno Bornkamp. A legend by himself and without doubt one of the greatest virtuosos and…