Nederlands Kamerkoor - the artists

The Dutch soprano Johannette Zomer began her studies at the Sweelinck Conservatorium Amsterdam in 1990 with Charles van Tassel, after having worked as a microbiology analyst for several years. In June 1997 she was awarded her Performance Diploma. Her repertoire ranges from medieval music through all music of the baroque and classical eras, including opera, but also Lieder, French Romanticism and Contemporary music. The prestigious ‘Gramophone magazine’ said of her: “A new voice to watch”

In October 1996 Johannette made her opera debut as the page Tebaldo in Verdi's Don Carlo with the Nationale Reisopera. Since then she has made regular appearances in roles including Belinda, Pamina, La Musica, Euridice, Dalinda and Ilia, but also as Amanda in Ligeti’s Le Grand Macabre and Mélisande in Debussy’s Pelléas et Mélisande.

Regularly she contributes to CD-recording projects. A few of her most recent releases – all very well received in both press and radio – are the Fauré Requiem under Philippe Herreweghe (Harmonia Mundi) , Couperin’s Leçons des Ténèbres (Channel Classics) and Bach Cantates under Ton Koopman (Channel Classics) . She has also recorded some recitals with theorbist Fred Jacobs, such as Caccini’s Nuove Musiche (Channel Classics) and Schubert Songs with Arthur Schoonderwoerd on piano forte (Kennst du das Land, Alpha) .

In february 2007 a CD was released with Bach’s Hohe Messe (Dutch Bach Society). In october 2007 a French song recital-cd with Fred Jacobs, named ‘L'Esprit Galant’was released. Her album with Ensemble Florilegium with Bach-Cantatas, is nominated for an Edison-award.

The Dutch tenor Marcel Beekman [born 1969] began his career at a young age as a boy soprano. After concluding his vocal studies at conservatory with distinction in 1993, he was coached by the renowned voice teacher Margreet Honig in Amsterdam. Marcel is a sought-after soloist in both the Baroque/Classical and the contemporary concert and opera repertoire. He has performed with such orchestras as the Berlin Symphoniker, Deutsches Symphonie Orchester Berlin, Münchner Philharmoniker, Musica Antiqua Köln, les Arts Florissants, Schönberg Ensemble, Sinfonietta Amsterdam, Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century, Netherlands Bach Society, Combattimento Consort, Gulbenkian Lisbon, Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano Giuseppe Verdi, Orchestra di Padova e del Veneto and with all the major Dutch orchestras.

Marcel appears regularly at leading concert venues both national and international [Amsterdam, London, Berlin, Paris, Madrid, Milan, New York and Tokyo] and also at festivals in the Netherlands, France, Germany, Belgium, Portugal, Spain, Italy, Lithuania and Iran.
His broad concert repertoire includes the vocal works of Johann Sebastian Bach and his contemporaries [he received a Golden Award for his recording on the Deutsche Grammophon-label of the evangelist part in the Dutch translation of the St. Matthew Passion], solo motets for high tenor by François Couperin, oratorios by Händel, Haydn, Mozart, Mendelssohn, Rossini, Orff, Honneger and Stravinsky, but also less well-known works such as “Le Vin Herbé” by Frank Martin, “Dies Natalis” by Gerald Finzi, “Serenade” and “Nocturne” by Benjamin Britten or “Job” by Peter Maxwell Davies, and extends to the more avant-garde work of composers such as Peter Schat, Claude Vivier or John Cage.

Marcel, accompanied at the piano by Ernst Munneke and Hans Adolfsen, can be heard in the entire range of traditional song, but focuses especially on contemporary song. In so doing he has sung the premières of many pieces [some of them written especially for him] by composers such as Elmer Schönberger, Roderik de Man, Martijn Padding, Jacques Bank, António Chagas Rosa, Myriam Marbe and Jeff Hamburg. On the opera stage Marcel has appeared to date in “Orfeo” by Claudio Monteverdi [Pastore], “L’Ipermestra” by Francesco Cavalli [Berenice], “Les Indes Galantes” by Jean Philippe Rameau [Valère and Damon], “Arminio” by Heinrich Ignaz von Biber [Germanico], “Alceste” by Chistoph Willibald von Gluck [High Priest of Apollo and Apollo], “Down in the valley” by Kurt Weill [Brack Weaver], “A season in hell”, a quadripartite music theatre piece by Roderik de Man, Theo Abazis, Barbara Woof and Paul Bruinen [Arthur Rimbaud], “Memory of Lake Taiping” by Xu Shuya [Wu Zhengwen] and “Jona” by Willem Breuker [in the title role]. A film version of “Jona” is available on DVD.

Born in Kassel, André Morsch began his studies in Austria, at the Conservatory in Feldkirch, with Ralf Ernst. After graduating with distinction in 2000, he had continued studying with Margreet Honig at the Conservatory of Amsterdam, where he received a scholarship supporting excellent young musicians for 2002. André Morsch has also completed this study with distinction in 2003.

With the New Opera Academy of The Netherlands , André Morsch has interpreted the roles of Leporello in Mozart’s Don Giovanni conducted by Kenneth Montgomery , the Clock in Ravel’s L’Enfant et les Sortilèges conducted by Jose Esandi, and Figaro in Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro under the musical direction of Jed Wentz. He has graduated the New opera Academy program with distinction in July 2002.

Recent opera engagements include a.o. Cadmus in Lully’s Cadums et Hermione at the Opera Comique in Paris, Michelotto Cibo in Shrecker’s Die Gezeichneten as well as Frère Rufin in Messian’s St François d’Assise at the De Nedrelandse Opera in Amsterdam, Polyphonus in Strauss’s Des Esels Schatten in the Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, De Brétigny in Massenet’s Manon, Ping in Puccini’s Turandot and Simanov in Jan van de Putte’s Wet Snow all with the National Reis Opera of The Netherlands, Adario in Rameau´s Les Indes Galantes at the Zurich Opera, Paris (Romeo et Juliette) and Stephano in F. Martin’s Der Sturm at the Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw during the prestigious NPS Opera Series, Morales in Bizet’s Carmen at the Opera of Lausanne, a world tour with Les Arts Florissants conducted by W. Christie as part of Le Jardin des Voix, Boris in Shostakovich’s Moskva - Cheremushki at the Opéra de Lyon, Achillas (Giulio Cesare) with Oper Stuttgart, Sid in Puccini´s La Fanciulla del West during the NPS matinee series at the Amsterdam´s Concertgebouw as well as several roles in Bernstein’s Candide with the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra.

André Morsch is also regularly on the concert stage. He wide repertoire includes o.a. the arias and Christus parts in both J.S.Bach´s Passions, Beethoven 9th Symphony, Jesus in Kaiser’s Brockes passion, Händel’s Alexander’s Feast and Mendelssohn’s Elias. He perfromed with orchestras such as the Residentie Orchestra of The Hague, The Orchestra of the 18th Century, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra of Galicia, Spain, the Bochumer Symphoniker, Les Talens Lyriques, Le Poeme harmonique, Stavanger Symphony Orchestra, Dutch Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, Israel Chamber Orchestra and the Israel Camerata Jerusalem.

André Morsch has had the pleasure to work with conductors such as Frans Bruggen, Jaap van alemZweden, Ingo Metzmacher, Christophe Rousset, William Christie, Nicolas Chalvin, and Peter Dijkstra….
 
Future opera engagements include: Cadmus in Lully’s Cadmus et Hermione on a new tour in France, Harlequin (Ariadne auf Naxos) at Oper Leipzig, Fritz (Die Tote Stadt) at the opera of Nancy, Dandini (La Cenerentola) with the Nationale Reisopera, and Jake Wallace (La Fanciulla del West), The Noice's Friend (Billy Budd) as well as 2nd Nazarene (Salome) all at De Nederlandse Opera in Amsterdam. In concert he will return to the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra of Galicia and will perform Vaughan Williams' Hodie with the Barabants Orchestra as well as Haydn's Creation with the Netherlands Chamber Choir and Concerto d'Amsterdam.

André Morsch Is a sought after recitalist and in October 2007, he won the first prize at the prestigious Hugo Wolf Akademie Lieder competition in Stuttgart. He also received the Prix Bernac of the Ravel Academie in Saint Jean de Luz in 2002. Most recent appearances include a series of recitals during the Delft Chamber Music Festival, where he enjoyed wide critical acclaim. Morsch has taken part in several master classes for Lieder working with, among others, Hartmut Höll, Rudolf Jansen, Graham Johnson, Mark Tucker, Roger Vignoles, Konrad Richter and Udo Reineman.

Klaas Stok is Choirmaster of the Nederlands Kamerkoor. In this capacity he is responsible for monitoring and maintaining the overall quality of the choir, as well as being the choir’s main repetiteur. Klaas has also conducted various NKK concert series of choral music from the 16th century until the present day, including world premières of works by Hans Kox, Mauricio Kagel and Geija Kancheli. He has conducted concerts by the choir in such locations as Marseille, Budapest, Monte Carlo and Fribourg, and together they've made CD recordings of works by Kagel, Kancheli and Jan Vriend.

Klaas has also conducted many other choirs and ensembles, including Capella Frisiae, Musica Treize (Marseille), the Irish National Chamber Choir, Consensus Vocalis and Capella Isalana. Together with Philippe Herreweghe, and in collaboration with the Flemish conservatoires and the Royal Flemish Philharmonic in Antwerp, he was co-founder of the “Kooracademie” (Choral Academy).

As an organist he has won various top prizes at national and international competitions in improvisation and interpretation, and has given organ concerts both at home and abroad. He has made recordings for radio, TV and CD. His most recent CD with works by Bach received the highest praise from the press.

The Nederlands Kamerkoor (Netherlands Chamber Choir), founded by Felix de Nobel in 1937, is an independent professional vocal ensemble which concentrates on a cappella repertoire from the early Middle Ages until the present day.

The Nederlands Kamerkoor works with conductors specialized in different periods of music. In 2005 Peter Dijkstra was named Principal Guest Conductor and the Flemish early music specialist Paul Van Nevel Honorary Guest Conductor. Klaas Stok is chorus master.

Every year the Nederlands Kamerkoor presents its own series of concert programmes in the Netherlands, and in addition performs both there and abroad with orchestras and ensembles such as the Nieuw Ensemble, ASKO|Schönberg, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra and the Orchestra of the 18th Century.

Since its foundation many composers have written for the Nederlands Kamerkoor, among whom Frank Martin, Francis Poulenc, Rudolf Escher, Ton de Leeuw, Harrisson Birtwistle, Mauricio Kagel, John Tavener and James MacMillan. Recent CDs include the Bach Motets (with Peter Dijkstra), the choral works of Martinu and Penderecki (with Stephen Layton), choral works of Jan Vriend and of Gija Kancheli (with Klaas Stok) and French choral music (with Tõnu Kaljuste and Roland Hayrabedian)

Concerto d’Amsterdam was formed in 1991 by a group of musicians led by Mariette Holtrop who believed the use of historical instruments to be an essential aspect of performance of music from the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries. In concerts and festivals throughout Europe, Concerto d’Amsterdam presents programs which include combinations of both the standard repertoire as well as lesser known works. The ensemble has developed a uniquely recognizable style characterized by flexibility and variety.

In collaboration with selected choirs, Concerto d’Amsterdam regularly performs the great choral works of Bach, Haendel, and Mozart. In addition, the ensemble has worked with reknowned soloists such as Emma Kirkby, Michael Chance, Lynne Dawson, Claron MacFadden, Marcel Beekman, Nico van der Meel, Johanette Zomer, and Barbara Hannigan. While Concerto d’Amsterdam often performs as a chamber orchestra without conductor, the ensemble has also worked under the direction of instrumental soloists such as Lucy van Dael, Elizabeth Wallfisch, Richard Egarr, Alfredo Bernadini, and Marion Verbruggen.

Special music-theater productions have included Purcell’s King Arthur (performed at an electrical power station) and The Fairy Queen (an educational project) and “Orfeo Aqua” (Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice performed at sunrise by a Frisian lake). Concerto d’Amsterdam has also been active in contemporary music: in 1999 the ensemble performed De Toren van Babel, an oratorio composed by the Dutch composer Hans Koolmees for the orchestra, and in 2005, working with Capella Frisiae under the direction of Hoite Pruiksma, Concerto d’Amsterdam participated in the premier of the Frisian Johannis Passy by Pieter Bakker.

CD recordings include an early version of Bach’s Johannes Passion directed by Nico van der Meel and the three Cantatas for alto, organ and orchestra by Bach with the counter tenor Maarten Engeltjes and conductor Klaas Stok.

It was Bernard Haitink who once described the Concertgebouw as the best instrument in the orchestra it houses. This must have been what the great and the good of Amsterdam had in mind in 1881, when they decided that the Dutch capital should have a proper concert hall worthy of the name. Seven years later, in the marshy fields just outside the city limits, there stood a wonder of neoclassical architecture, the Concertgebouw, a building that now, like its most important player, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, enjoys a worldwide reputation.

In the beginning It is 15 September 1881. In Amsterdam six prominent citizens meet to set up a temporary committee for the building of a concert hall. The Parkzaal in the Plantage is about to be demolished, Felix Meritis is too small, the Paleis voor Volksvlijt is uncomfortable and notorious for its poor acoustics. A few months earlier the Weekblad De Amsterdammer news magazine had exposed the scandalous state of musical life in the capital. Whereas in other countries the officials of all self-respecting cities provide good concert halls, our government boasts the disastrous motto art is not a matter for the government, reported the weekly.

Building starts! For advice on selecting a site, the committee turns to Pierre Cuypers, architect of the Rijksmuseum, which is now being built. He mediates in the purchase of a site close to the new museum, just outside the city boundary, amid the fields of Nieuwer-Amstel.

On 7 March 1882 the plans for a limited company with capital of 400,000 guilders are finalized, and shares go on sale at 1000 guilders. By 8 July 1882 the company, known as N.V. Het Concertgebouw, is in existence although only 250,000 guilders worth of shares have been sold.

After some wrangling, the judges decide on the design albeit in simplified forms submitted by Amsterdam's best patronized architect, Adolf Leonard (Dolf) van Gendt, the creator of numerous buildings including the Hollandsche Manege, Frascati, De IJsbreker and the Gallery in the Paleis voor Volksvlijt.

The Concertgebouw is completed by the end of 1886, but lack of confidence on the part of the financial backers and the inevitable squabbles with Nieuwer-Amstel council, among other things about filling in a small canal, the surfacing of the access roads and the provision of street lighting delay the grand opening of the long-awaited building until Wednesday 11 April 1888. The style For this prestigious project Van Gendt chose the international style of architecture that was to go down in art history as Viennese Classicism. A lyre, part of the Concertgebouw's logo to this day, proudly crowned Van Gendt's creation.

For the design and layout of the interior, Van Gendt clearly drew his inspiration from the Neue Gewandhaus in Leipzig, two years older and destroyed in 1943 flowing lines, rounded corners, the auditoriums surrounded by broad corridors. The small auditorium in Amsterdam is also located crosswise behind the large one, and the large auditorium was modelled on the same shoebox format as in Leipzig, although at 44 x 27.80 x 17.50 metres with seating for more than 2000 people, it is much larger.