Calendar

Songlessness with Una Cintina - organ music by Maxim Shalygin, Plilip Glass and Arvo Pärt 'SONGLESSNESS' focuses on a combination of Wagner's idea of an endless melody as well as the creation of...

Songlessness with Una Cintina - organ music by Maxim Shalygin, Plilip Glass and Arvo Pärt 'SONGLESSNESS' focuses on a combination of Wagner's idea of an endless melody as well as the creation of the poly-temporal development of the material. A journey with the aim of an infinite melody, continuous time and expansion of 'time-space'

Student composers hear and receive feedback on their works-in-progress!   (Not open to public)

Student composers hear and receive feedback on their works-in-progress!   (Not open to public)

Young composers private concert with freshly composed pieces by ISH students The International School of The Hague Amstel Quartet has often been involved with educational activities focusing on young...

Young composers private concert with freshly composed pieces by ISH students The International School of The Hague Amstel Quartet has often been involved with educational activities focusing on young saxophonists and, especially, young composers. Having their musical ideas workshopped and performed by a professional group is a very inspiring experience for a composer, and the collaboration always leads to some very creative and unusual performances.              

Paris - Beyrouth featuring Anass Habib & Philippe Elan Van de rivier de Seine tot de bruisende wijk Hamra, Amstel Quartet brengt muziek uit Parijs en Beyrouth samen. Want ondanks dat de steden kilometers...

Paris - Beyrouth featuring Anass Habib & Philippe Elan Van de rivier de Seine tot de bruisende wijk Hamra, Amstel Quartet brengt muziek uit Parijs en Beyrouth samen. Want ondanks dat de steden kilometers uit elkaar liggen, lijken ze toch op elkaar. Beide zijn muzikale hotspots, die de liedkunst uit de regio centraal zetten. Samen met Philippe Elan en Anass Habib laat het saxofoonkwartet horen dat thema’s als liefde, verlangen en verlies universeel en grenzeloos zijn. In de fameuze Franse chansons en muziek vol verhalen en emotie uit het Midden-Oosten hoef je de taal niet te begrijpen om passie te voelen. Een avond vol bekende liederen uit de Levant van onder andere Oum Kalthoum en Fairuz maar ook werk van de grote chansonniers uit de Franse muziekgeschiedenis: Jacques Brel, Charles Aznavour en Edith Piaf. Van het Parijs van het Oosten, tot het Beyrouth van het Westen!

a dream comes true Steve Coleman will write a new piece for saxophone quartet combining improvised and composed music and he will join us on stage as well        

a dream comes true Steve Coleman will write a new piece for saxophone quartet combining improvised and composed music and he will join us on stage as well        

Music with Changing Parts with Amstel Quartet and Laura Sandee & Pascal Meyer keyboardsWith Music with Changing Parts (1970), a monumental work from Philip Glass’s early period, Amstel Quartet...

Music with Changing Parts with Amstel Quartet and Laura Sandee & Pascal Meyer keyboardsWith Music with Changing Parts (1970), a monumental work from Philip Glass’s early period, Amstel Quartet returns to the meditative and grooving world of hard-core minimalism.This work, consisting of repeated melodic figures which gradually expand and contract, shares some of the rhythmic, trance-inducing aspects of the earlier Music in Similar Motion.However, through the addition of subtle vocal parts and long tones improvised at different moments in the piece by the musicians, the music acquires a different dimension and anticipates Glass's opera work of the later 1970s, such as Einstein on the Beach.

The live premiere of Reza Namavar's absurdist radiophonic mini-opera 'De Betoverende Vaatwasser' featuring reknowned tenor Marcel Beekman.   The quartet will also perform 'Facing Death', an epic...

The live premiere of Reza Namavar's absurdist radiophonic mini-opera 'De Betoverende Vaatwasser' featuring reknowned tenor Marcel Beekman.   The quartet will also perform 'Facing Death', an epic saxophone quartet work from the legendary Dutch composer Louis Andriessen, one of Reza Namavar's former teachers.

Amstel Quartet ontvangt pianiste Laura Sandee als solist in muziek van Georgs Pelecis

Amstel Quartet ontvangt pianiste Laura Sandee als solist in muziek van Georgs Pelecis

music by: Fernande Decruck, Amy Beach, César Frank, Paul Creston and others

music by: Fernande Decruck, Amy Beach, César Frank, Paul Creston and others

Saxofoon en Piano Een programma met afwisseling. Het middelpunt van het concert is 'Sunlight Sonata' van de Baltische componist Georgs Pelecis voor saxofoonkwartet en piano. Net als op de meest recente...

Saxofoon en Piano Een programma met afwisseling. Het middelpunt van het concert is 'Sunlight Sonata' van de Baltische componist Georgs Pelecis voor saxofoonkwartet en piano. Net als op de meest recente CD 'Pelecis' zal Laura Sandee Amstel Quartet vergezellen.

  featuring Laura Sandee on keys   music by: John Cage  Georgs Pelecis  Hugues Dufourt Phliip Glass  

  featuring Laura Sandee on keys   music by: John Cage  Georgs Pelecis  Hugues Dufourt Phliip Glass  

Simeon Ten Holt – Incantatie IV (1987-1990) The Natalon Quartet & Amstel Quartet ‘Time becomes space in which the musical object starts floating’. Perhaps Simeon Ten Holt (1923-2012)...

Simeon Ten Holt – Incantatie IV (1987-1990) The Natalon Quartet & Amstel Quartet ‘Time becomes space in which the musical object starts floating’. Perhaps Simeon Ten Holt (1923-2012) has himself described his work the most accurately. Only a handful of people in the Netherlands will not be familiar with Ten Holt’s compositions for four pianos, of which his minimal masterpiece, Canto Ostinato (1976-1979),has become a true cultural phenomenon. The ‘open space’ that the composer has incorporated into his work, both for performers as well as performance settings, has generated an almost ritual-like environment during concerts. The later composed Incantatie IV (1987-1990) could, in many respects, be regarded as an expansion on Canto. The composition is hypnotic as well, but also more complex - more restless and stubborn than its lyrical older sibling. What’s more, Incantatie IV leaves room (being the only one in Ten Holt’s repertoire for four pianos) for supplementary instruments. An additional sound experience, giving the already intriguing piece an extra dimension. To explore this new level, the Amstel Quartet and the Natalon Quartet (specialists in Ten Holt) join forces. The two quartets could be considered as the ultimate counterparts. Not only in their modes of playing, but also in the way that the sound and long dynamics of the saxophone beautifully add up to the piano-infused ‘tone palette’ of Simeon Ten Holt.   Natalon Quartet Robert Lambermont Laura Sandee Petra van Oort Anna van Nieukerken    

Shalygin's epic piece for saxophone octet Todos los Fuegos el Fuego Keuris Quartet and Amstel Quartet "Devastating, breathtaking. It’s not difficult to point out the most impressive concert...

Shalygin's epic piece for saxophone octet Todos los Fuegos el Fuego Keuris Quartet and Amstel Quartet "Devastating, breathtaking. It’s not difficult to point out the most impressive concert in November music. That was the fiery Todos los Fuegos el Fuego, for 8 saxophones by Maxim Shalygin. "Brabants Dagblad "Endlessly rising clusters, pulsing tone tapestries in a minimalistic cut, poetic-melodic intermezzi, and a quasi-orthodox hymn running aground in a quarter-tone yowl." NRC