Opening concert – TEMKO & Slagwerk Den Haag / Oerknal / Catchpenny

PLEASE NOTE: Online ticket sales for this concert through our website has stopped, but you can still buy tickets in TivoliVredenburg at the box office.

Composer and guitarist Aart Strootman won the Gaudeamus Award in 2017 for his unique and inspiring sound inventions. Winning the Award meant he received a commission to write a brand-new work. During the opening concert of the Gaudeamus Muziekweek 2019 this ambitious work, entitled W.A.L.L, will be premiered. It’s a reflection on the return of ‘the wall’ in our politically turbulent times, with firewalls, Wall Street and American border walls (unconsciously) confronting us with borders. In the second half of the evening, Oerknal plays a brand-new piece by Clara Iannotta, jury member for the Gaudeamus Award 2019.

W.A.L.L is a piece for microtonal tubular bells, guitars and a gigantic marimba, all built by Aart Strootman. With these home-made instruments Strootman builds a wall of outrageous, impenetrable sounds, supplemented by abstract visual projections. The piece is performed by the unorthodox trio TEMKO, of which Strootman himself is a member. The trio moves freely between composed music, minimal, ambient, prog rock and improv. The line-up is expanded for the occasion with members of Slagwerk Den Haag and guitar players Hijmans and Harden.

Italian Clara Ianotta composer is particularly interested in the physical side of music. She wrote a new piece especially for the unorthodox Dutch ensemble Oerknal, who are equally fond of music as a direct, visceral experience. Tonight sees its world premiere. Both before and in between concerts, the Catchpenny Ensemble will perform new works with the musicians scattered on the escalators and elsewhere in the building.

This concert also features in the concert series Club Fluxus. Fluxus, which means ‘fluid’ or ‘constantly changing’, is a series in Club Nine. This series focuses on composers, young ensembles and musicians who together showcase the latest developments in contemporary music. Where possible, the composers will be present and will discuss their own work. The small-scale and informal set-up places the audience in very close contact with the performers.

NB: This concert starts at 20:15, not at 20:00 as was communicated in the programme book.