DON'T MISS THE DUTCH PREMIERE OF ROLF WALLIN'S AND JOSSE DE PAUW'S DEEPLY MOVING WORK:

In October the New European Ensemble will present the Dutch premiere of the exciting multimedia piece Strange News for actor, ensemble, live video and surround sound.

In Strange News the New European Ensemble will present the story of African child soldiers in theater form. Gripping music by composer Rolf Wallin is combined with fascinating visual imagery by director Josse de Pauw and woven together with live surround sound into a powerful performance. The young Ugandan actor Arthur Kisenyi will take us on a journey of discovery to learn what life is like as one of the world’s 250 000 child soldiers. The program also includes the prize winning virtuoso chamber symphony Bells and Waves by composer-in-residence Benjamin Staern.

Program:
Benjamin Staern – Bells and Waves
Rolf Wallin/Josse de Pauw – Strange News

New European Ensemble
Christian Karlsen – Conductor
Arthur Kisenyi – Actor
Rolf Wallin – Live video and surround sound
Josse de Pauw – Stage Director

Thursday, October 4th 20:15
Theater aan het Spui
Spui 187, Den Haag

Tickets 8.50/13.50/15.50/17.00
http://www.theateraanhetspui.nl/agenda/94/New_European_Ensemble/Strange_News

On April 4th and 5th the New European Ensemble will present Pierre Boulez’ seminal work Le Marteau sans maitre ('the hammer without a master'). This modern classic is by many considered to be one of the most important musical works of the 20th century. Boulez was influenced by Indonesian gamelan music as well as Japanese and African traditional music when composing the work.

We are really proud that for this special occasion the Swedish Kroumata Ensemble will make an exclusive appearance in the Netherlands.The San Francisco Chronicle wrote of Kroumata’s performances “you will not hear better percussion playing anywhere”. Christian Karlsen will conduct the collaborating ensembles and alto Carina Vinke will sing the settings in Le Marteau of René Char’s surrealistic poems. The programme will also feature music by the Japanese master Toru Takemitsu and a world première by Canadian composer Graham Flett. 

New European Ensemble | Kroumata Percussion Ensemble
Christian Karlsen, conductor
Carina Vinke, alto 

Programme:

Graham Flett – New Work (world première)
Toru Takemitsu – Towards the sea
Rolf Wallin – Scratch
---
Pierre Boulez – Le Marteau sans maître

April 4th 20:30 | AMSTERDAM | Ostadetheater
Tickets €4 | €5 | €6 | €6,50 | €10,50 | €12,50 

April 5th 20:30 | DEN HAAG | Korzo Theater
Tickets €7,50 | €10 | €14 | €17,50

Oboist Christopher Bouwman (Spain/the Netherlands) is principal oboist of Zubin Mehta's and Lorin Maazel's Orquestra de la communitat Valencia, Spain. He has performed widely both as a chamber musicians as well as a soloist with orchestras including the Swedish Radio Orchestra and the Bruckner Orchester Linz. Christopher Bouwman is also second prize winner in the Fernand Gillet international oboe competition.

Trombonist Lars Karlin (Germany/Sweden) is the winner of the 2011 Deutsche Musikwettbewerb in both the solo and ensemble categories. Lars Karlin is today the principal trombonist at the Aarhus Symphony Orchestra in Denmark after previously being member of the Orchestra of the Deutsche Oper, Berlin and the Hannover State Opera. He is also active performing and making arrangements for numerous brass ensembles.

The ensemble is pleased to announce that Onno Ephraim has been appointed managing director of the New European Ensemble. Onno Ephraim has extensive experience as a manager in the performing arts world having worked as a manager for numerous theatre companies and as a tour manager for SENF theatre partners in the Netherlands. We wish Onno good luck in his new position. He joins the ensemble at an exciting time with the ongoing development of numerous exciting projects.

New European Ensemble's composer-in-residence Benjamin Staern's chamber symphony "Bells and Waves" was awarded 'the Most significant Contemporary Chamber Work of the Year" during the Swedish Association of Music Publishers' annual award gala. The piece was commissioned by the New European Ensemble and dedicated to it's artistic director and conductor, Christian Karlsen. The premiere took place last year during the White Crow Music Festival in Leiden's amazing Stadsgehoorzaal.

Listen to the live recording of the concert here: 

You can hear Benjamin's speech at the prize ceremony here:

Follow this this link to vote for New European Ensemble's performance of Joey Rouken's amazing new piece Mellow Madman! (he wrote in only 12 hours!)

Today the New European Ensemble will be featured on Dutch National Television in the documentary NTR Podium Première! The New European Ensemble's wind section went on a blind date with composer Joey Roukens and together they got the assignment to compose and première a new piece within 12 hours. Watch the results today 13:00 and tomorrow 23:55 on NL2 channel. To view it afterwards follow click here!

NEW EUROPEAN ENSEMBLE PATRON TOMAS TRANSTÖMER RECEIVES THE 2011 NOBEL PRIZE FOR LITERATURE.

New European Ensemble has, since it's first project "Schönberg Festival Den Haag" been close to Tomas Transtömer's work. As a part of the Schönberg Festival, NEuE composer in residence Benjamin Staern wrote the first movements of what became one of NEuE's signature pieces, Tranströmer Settings. The complete work was premiered in Västerås Concert Hall and subsequently toured throughout Sweden. The piece was also performed as part of NEuE's residencency at the White Crow Music Festival last November.

Last week Mr. Transtömer agreed to support the New European Ensemble as a member of our Board of Patrons.

We would like to sincerely congratulate Mr. Transtömer on this amazing achievement.

Carina Vinke, Tomas Tranströmer, Benjamin Staern and Christian Karlsen after the concert in Västerås Concert Hall

The New European Ensemble is pleased to announced the names of the first three friends to join our support programme. We are in the process of updating the site and their will be a special sponsor section for our friends added shortly. Our first three friends are:

Jackie Cunningham
Michale Toner
Jet Schoemaker

Thank you for your support and welcome to the friends program!

Preparations are underway for the Saariaho Festival Den Haag. This is the most large-scale project undertaken by the ensemble to date. The new festival website is up and running at: www.saariahofestival.nl. Check it out! The festival will be packed full of exciting events that you won’t want to miss. More updates on the Saariaho Festival in our next newsletter. Be sure to book tickets for our concerts 'Solar' on October 6th and 'Aurora' on October 7th in the Saariaho Festival!

Friends, Supporters and Benefactors are eligible to receive special €17.50 discount tickets for the concerts 'Solar' and 'Aurora' in the Dr. Anton Philipszaal

Saariaho Festival Den Haag is a collaboration of:
Atrium - Dr Anton Philipszaal - Dag in de Branding - Finnish embassy - Royal Conservatoire - Korzo Theater - New European Ensemble - NJO - The Hague Philharmonic - Theater aan het Spui

In June and July this year the New European Ensemble will make its first appearances in the United Kingdom. On the Viennese flavoured programme stands Beethoven’s thrilling 4^th String Trio in C Minor, Mozart’s Kegelstadt Trio and Arnold Schönberg’s spectacular Suite for Septet Op. 29, where Schönberg lets New Orleans Jazz music meet Viennese expressionism to create a breathtaking experience. The musicians of the New European Ensemble and their conductor Christan Karlsen will perform in Bishops Stortford, Norwich, Great Bricett and in the newly opened concert hall in Bury St. Edmunds. Arnold Schönberg’s Suite will also be recorded for the ensemble’s soon to be released first CD.

Hear us for the first time in the United Kingdom:
30th of June - Hockerill Anglo European College, Bishops Stortford
2nd of July - St Mary and St Laurence Church, Great Bricett
3rd of July - The Assembly House, Norwich
4th of July - The Apex, Bury St. Edmunds

Check out the agenda for more info!

The last performance of our critically acclaimed opera double bill Moonstruck Intoxication was to be seen at the Zwolle International Chamber Opera Festival on the 4^th of April. Carina Vinke and actress Ilse Ott appeared for the last time together in Lotte de Beer’s staging of Arnold Schönberg’s Pierrot Lunaire and Peter Maxwell Davis’ Miss Donnithorne’s Maggot.

Franz R. Stuke wrote  in Opernnetz over Carina Vinke’s performance:

"Carina Vinke singt sowohl die hoffnungslos elegisch rückblickenden Erinnerungen an den mythischen Pierrot als auch die emotional überreizten Reanimations-Versuche einer verlassenen Braut mit kalkulierter Stimmkultur: bewusst gestaltend in den vorgegebenen Exaltationen mit gekonnten Höhen und intensiver „Sprach“-Gestaltung – dabei darstellerisch ausdrucksvoll präsent!

The New European Ensemble and conductor Christian Karlsen where also praised:

Das technisch perfekt aufspielende New European Ensemble vermag es, dem so spröden Klang-Material die immanente Emotionalität zu entlocken; Christian Karlsen leitet das Orchester zu intendiertem durchsichtigen Klang, lässt Raum für die eingreifenden Solo-Instrumente und koordiniert umsichtig die Kommunikation zwischen Musik und Gesang.
(...)
Dem jungen Festival im bislang wenig beachteten Zwolle steht nach dieser Erfahrung – und dem weiteren Programm mit avanciertem Musiktheater! - eine verheißungsvolle Zukunft ins Haus!"

We are all happy and grateful that our first opera production has been received so well by both audience and critics!

“BEST NEW WORK OF THE YEAR” New York Times
“a rare and rather magical experience.” Financial Times
“a creation of great beauty and drama” The Independent on Sunday

From October 6^th to 8^th the Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho will visit The Hague. One of the greatest and most internationally renowned composers of our time will join us for a three day festival in which the New European Ensemble, The Hague Philharmonic (Residentie Orkest), the Royal Conservatoire and Dr. Anton Philpszaal will present a portrait festival of Kaija Saariaho’s work.

The New European Ensemble is proud to have initiated this event.

Among the highlights of this festival will be two evening concerts on October 6^th and 7^th presented by the New European Ensemble in the Dr. Anton Philipszaal, during which we will perform all of Kaija Saariaho’s major works for ensemble. The violinist Peteri Iivonen, 2^nd prize winner in the 2010 Sibelius Violin Competition will make his debut in the Netherlands with the New European Ensemble as the soloist in Saariaho’s Violin Concerto. There will be a unique opportunity to meet the composer in post concert conversations with Kaija Saariaho, Christian Karlsen and musicians from the New European Ensemble.

The festival will mark a special collaboration between The Hague’s leading musical institutions with Saturday the 8^th of October being a special edition of Dag in de Branding, festival for new music with concerts by The Hague Philharmonic, students and faculty of the Royal Conservatoire and the NJO summer academy. The festival is shaping up to be an exciting event.

Kaija Saariaho will join us at the Dr. Anton Philipszaal in October and we hope that you will too!

The New European Ensemble will return to the Dr. Anton Philipszaal in The Hague on March 19^th to perform Gerard Grisey’s masterpiece Vortex Temporum as part of our program "Spectral Landscapes". Vortex Temporum is a fascinating study in time, movement and rotation. The work’s unheard of and otherworldly spectral harmonies are guaranteed to send the listener into a trance.

The program pairs this epic work with the world premiere of a new work by the prize winning Canadian composer Justin Christensen who’s interests align closely with those of Gerard Grisey who died tragically young in 1998 at the age of 46.
To kick off the presentation of this fall’s Kaija Saariaho Festival Den Haag we will open the concert with the Dutch premiere of Je sens un deuxième coeur by Kaija Saariaho. The work was inspired by Saariaho’s exploration of the relationship between a mother and her unborn child. The music captures the quality of forces moving in close proximity. Kaija Saariaho’s opera L’amour de Loin was awarded the 2010 Grammy for best opera recording.

"To those of us rooting for classical music to build a thriving future upon its storied history, nothing is more exciting than the introduction of a startling new work. So after a full week of attending concerts and operas in New York...what lingers is the premiere of Kaija Saariaho's "Je Sens un Deuxieme Coeur," a wonderfully strange work for viola, cello and piano that seemed monumental despite lasting only 15 minutes" (New York Times)

Spectral Landscapes

New European Ensemble conducted by Christian Karlsen

Saturday March 19th, 2011 | 14:00 (only Grisey)
Noorderkerk, Amsterdam

Saturday March 19th, 2011 | 20:15
Dr. Anton Philipszaal, The Hague 

Click here to order tickets now!

As ensemble in residence at the White Crow Music Festival in Leiden we performed 5 concerts over a 4 day period. The ensemble premiered new works by composer in residence Benjamin Staern and Silvia Colasanti. We also presented Reinbert de Leeuw’s new arrangement of Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde. The German magazine Ensemble wrote about the Leiden performances:

“Silvia Colasanti’s Burning a work hovering between jazz and avant-garde performed with excitement and bravado by the New European Ensemble”

“Schönberg’s Pierrot Lunaire was a theatrical spectacle…the New European Ensemble impressively matched the poem’s different moods… a world class concert experience”

Okke Westdorp has taken on the job of interim managing director for the New European Ensemble as of January 2011. Okke has been a French horn player with The Hague Philharmonic since 2004 and has gained management experience on the orchestra’s musician’s board. He was on the board of the directors for Theater Pierrot and has been a member of the task force for Art, Culture and Media for the political party D66.

We wish Okke good luck in his new position! He joins our team at an exciting time with a myriad of upcoming projects in the works not to mention the numerous challenges confronting a new ensemble in today’s era of austerity measures and funding cuts to the arts. 

Following a succesful appearance at the Antillen Festival in Rotterdam's De Doelen last year, New European Ensemble again joins forces with Randal Corsen Quartet for a concert at the Writers United Literature Festival in the Hague. Come and hear us at 22.00 on Saturday in Theater aan't Spui. For all of you that can't wait, enjoy this little teaser:

Watch a short documentary about our project Voices we did last year in collaboration with Amnesty International.

The Canada Council for the Arts announced today that composer Justin Christensen is this year's winner of the most prestious compositional prizes in Canada, the Jules Léger Prize for New Chamber Music, for the work The Failures of Marsyas. The piece for seven instruments, orignally commissioned by New European Ensemble, was premiered as a part of our Schönberg Festival in The Hague 2010. The work was also featured to great public acclaim at all concerts during the ensemble's tour of Sweden this year.

Of The Failures of Marsyas the prize committee said: "This is a piece that holds itself beautifully, featuring a fresh use of glissandi, interesting groupings of instruments and a great care in the orchestration. A strong and surprising work, it teases the listener into thinking that things will fall apart."

The New European Ensemble is proud to have been part of intiating this masterwork and would like to congratulate the composer on this major recognition.

To listen to our live performance at the Schönberg Festival 2009 click here!
For more information visit: The Canada Council for the Arts' webpage

We are also very excited that, right now, Justin Christensen is working on a new large scale composition for the ensemble. The premiere is to take place on the 19th of March in The Hague's major concert hall, Dr. Anton Philipszaal. Don't miss the opportunity to be the first one hear a new masterwork!
Click here to reserve your tickets!

The New European Ensemble is delighted to be Ensemble in Residence at Leiden’s new White Crow Music Festival at the Stadsgehoorzaal Leiden between November 11^th and 14^th, 2010.
The ensemble will present a total of 5 programs at the festival. Our resident composer Benjamin Staern will be featured both with the world premiere of his new large scale work Bells and Waves on the festival’s opening concert as well as a performance of his Tranströmersånger.
Our critically acclaimed chamber opera production Moonstruck Intoxication will also be performed.  Ilse Ott and Carina Vinke return to perform Pierrot Lunaire by Arnold Schönberg and Miss Donnithorne’s Maggot by Peter Maxwell Davies.
For the festival’s closing concert N.Eu.E. will present an ambitious program with 30 musicians and no fewer than 5 solo singers under the direction of Christian Karlsen. The program will include maestro Reinbert de Leeuw’s new arrangement of Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde and Tristan Keuris’ rarely performed masterpiece L’Infinito.

click on our agenda to find out more details!

The New European Ensemble is very proud to announce that both the world-renowned stage director Peter Sellars and one of Holland’s great conductors and mentors Reinbert de Leeuw have shown their support for our ensemble by joining our board of patrons. 

New European Ensemble recently returned from a highly successful tour of Sweden. Besides performances in Gothenburg and Malmö, N.Eu.E. played two sold out concerts in Stockholm and was honored that the great poet Tomas Tranströmer could attend our performance in Västerås. The ensemble also presented several workshops to young music students on the creative process and collaborating with living composers. We also discussed rehearsal techniques and exploring the contemporary repertoire.
The ensemble was proud to present 7 world premieres by some of Europe’s most exciting young composers.  The newspaper VLT from Västerås wrote:

“Drama, intensity, severity power and energy throughout…the sheer power of the clarinets gave the concert’s first piece a thundering intensity, like threatening steps in a dark landscape…”

Carina Vinke was the soloist in Benjamin Staern’s expanded Tranströmersånger. Other works included new works for ensemble and electronics by Dutch composer Ronald Boersen and Swedish composer Pär Frid as well as the world premiere of Settimino by Bulgarian composer Velislav Zaimov. Justin Christensen's masterpiece The Failures of Marsyas that we premiered two years ago opened all concerts. Conductor Christian Karlsen lead the ensemble. The ensemble would also like to thank Fredrik Hagstedt and Fabio Monni for their new works.

In October the New European Ensemble will tour a number of Sweden's major cities. Our first performance will be at Västerås Concert Hall with subsequent performances in Stockholm, Gothenburg and at the Connect Festival in Malmö. The concert program presents several of Europe's highly talented  young composers. The varied program is similar to a prism reflecting the young composers' widely divergent backgrounds and compositional styles. The tour will reflect our ensemble's goals of developing new repertoire and introducing young composers to new audiences. 

All of the pieces we will perform have been written for the New European Ensemble and have been composed with the same instrumentation as Arnold Schönberg's Serenade Op. 24. This highly unusual combination of instruments includes voice, clarinet, bass clarinet, guitar, mandolin and string trio. The unusual timbres of this combination of instruments inspired Schönberg to connect various musical styles from traditional dance music to twelve-tone composition. Our ensemble's enjoyment of Schönberg's Serenade and its unique instrumentation has lead us to encourage living composers to write for this instrumental setting.

Five works will receive their world premiere performance during the tour. The ensemble's new composer in residence Benjamin Staern has expanded his song cycle Tranströmersånger, which we originally premiered in the Netherlands in 2009. New works by the young Swedish composer Pär Frid and the young Dutch composer Ronald Boersen will feature live and interactive electronics. Italian composer Fabio Monni and Swedish composer Fredrik Hagstedt have written new vocal works for the ensemble featuring the New European Ensemble's alto Carina Vinke. We will also perform The Failures of Marsyas by Justin Christensen, which was written for our ensemble in 2009. 

Tour dates:

9^th of October 14.00 Västerås Konserthus
9^th of October 19.30 Capitol Stockholm
10^th of October 19.00 FORUM Stockholm (Schönberg Serenade Op. 24)
12^th of October 18.00 Röhsska Museet Göteborg
13^th of October 19.00 Caroli Kyrka Malmö at the Connect Festival
Workshops for music students will be given in Stockholm and Västerås on the 7^th and the 8^th.

For more information about the Sweden tour visit the agenda.

"Magnificent sonorities and Staern's glorious, intense emotionalism are certainlycontagious regardless with whichever ears one listened" (Göteborgsposten)

The New European Ensemble is excited to announce that Benjamin Staern (born 1978) will be the ensemble's first resident composer. The young Swedish composer has already positioned himself as one of the most interesting composers of his generation. Written when the composer was 21 years of age his piece The Threat of War was premiered by the Helsingborg Symphony Orchestra and since then his work has been performed by all of the leading orchestras in his native country.
On numerous occasions Benjamin Staern’s work has been performed by major European orchestras, such as the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and the MDR Orchestra Leipzig. In 2008 his tuba concerto Sacrificio opened the Suntory Festival in Japan with a performance by the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra. Last year his piece Nattens djupa violoncell was performed by the star alto Anna Larsson and the recording of this work won the Swedish Gramophone Award for 'Best Classical Album' of the year. 

Benjamin Staern's tenure as a composer in residence will span three years starting this September. He will work closely with our ensemble's musicians and music director Christian Karlsen. For our upcoming Sweden tour Benjamin Staern has composed an extended version of the song cycle Tranströmersånger originally written for the New European Ensemble and Carina Vinke in 2009. The new version will be premiered at the Västerås Concert Hall. The composer is also working on a new large scale composition for ensemble to be premiered during the New European Ensemble's residency at the White Crow Music Festival Leiden this coming November (more information can be found below). 

We are pleased that Benjamin Staern will be our very first composer in residence and are looking forward to a fruitful partnership with this unusually gifted composer.

http://www.benjaminstaern.se
To listen to a live performance of Tranströmersånger click on LISTEN in the menu above!

After several months of preparation including set building and stage rehearsals the ensemble's first chamber opera production opened on the 19th of August at the Orpheus Theater in Apeldoorn. This was an exciting debut for the new opera company New Opera Amsterdam.
Our first partnership project was received with glowing reviews in the Dutch press:

"world class performance" (De Stentor)

"The New European Ensemble earned high praise. That the ensemble is made up of young top musicians from across Europe was clearly apparent. The sounds, colors and atmospheres that they conjured up were of the highest quality." (Plaçe de l'Opera)

We wish to congratulate New Opera Amsterdam on their successful debut and we are looking forward to upcoming performances of Moonstruck Intoxication. We are also excited about the prospect of a long-term partnership with New Opera Amsterdam. Plans are being made for our next opera production.

The brand new opera company New Opera Amsterdam and the New European Ensemble will present an exciting music theatre production called Moonstruck Intoxication. In a performance filled with intoxicating madness a tragic clown and a bride jilted at the altar with her rotting wedding cake move the audience between hard, cold reality and the absurd fantasy-world of dreams. The program pushes boundaries theatrically, musically and vocally. The young up and coming production team will explore how suicide, anxiety dreams, hope and love can leave one balancing on the edge of life and death.

The talented young stage director Lotte de Beer will take charge of the staging for this production. She is together with Christian Karlsen co-artistic director of New Opera Amsterdam and learned her craft as Peter Konwitschny's assistant. Stage design will be done by the highly imaginative duo Clement & Sanôu. They are currently also designing a new Monteverdi Orfeo for Pierre Audi. The New European Ensemble will be conducted by music director Christian Karlsen. Alto Carina Vinke will sing the title roles of both Pierrot Lunaire and Miss Donnithorne's Maggot. Actress Ilse Ott will join alto Carina Vinke on stage exploring the depths of both dramatic works.

Hans Werner Henze’s dark and brooding Sonata for Six Players will open the performance followed by Arnold Schönberg’s masterpiece Pierrot Lunaire. Peter Maxwell Davies’ Miss Donnithorne’s Maggot is a perturbing monodrama as well as a virtuoso tour de force with stunning vocal effects. Actor Ilse Ott will join alto Carina Vinke on stage exploring the depths of both dramatic works.

MOONSTRUCK INTOXICATION can be seen in theatres in the Netherlands starting in August 2010:

August 19th, 20:00  |  Apeldoorn, Schouwburg Orpheus   click here for tickets
August 21st, 20:00  |  Nijmegen, LUX   click here for tickets
August 25th, 20:15  |  Amsterdam, Muziekgebouw aan 't IJ   click here for tickets
November 12th, 20:00  |  Leiden, Stadsgehoorzaal
April 4th 2011, 20:15  |  Zwolle, Theater Odeon

For the new cultural season the New European Ensemble will present a wide-ranging program varying from large music theatre to intimate chamber music concerts.
This year will open with the new music theatre production ''Moonstruck Intoxication'' in Orfeus, Apeldoorn conducted by music director Christian Karlsen and directed by Ton Lutz award winning Lotte de Beer. Carina Vinke will sing both the title roles in Arnold Schönberg's Pierrot Lunaire and Peter Maxwell Davies' Miss Donnithorne's Maggot. The production will tour the Netherlands during the season with a first stop in Amsterdam's Muziekgebouw aan't IJ on the 25th of August. 
In October the ensemble will tour Sweden's major cities with works specially written for the ensemble by some of today’s most exciting young composers.
N.Eu.E. will also form part of the core programming of the new White Crow Music Festival in Leiden in November. This is Leiden’s first chamber music festival! Artistic director Hanna Shybayeva is of course the N.Eu.E. pianist.

To keep your self updated sign up for our newsletter or check out or agenda!

Jacob Kellermann, the New European Ensemble’s guitarist won the prestigious Internationalen Wettbewerb für Kammermusik mit Gitarre in Aschaffenburg, Germany with his violin/guitar duo KeMi. Both Jacob and violinist Daniel Migdal who performed with N.Eu.E. last November in Scandinavian Imagery won three rounds of competition against 20 other ensembles from 17 different countries. The duo has won an international concert tour with performances in Germany, Sweden, the Czech Republic and the Netherlands. A review of their prize-winning performance sighted “Fire, passion and character” and described their playing as “authentic, heartfelt and touching”.

It is with great pride that we congratulate Jacob and Daniel on their success. For more information on Duo KeMi visit their website: www.duokemi.com

After months of hard work preparing for what was to be our largest project to date, we performed Hans Werner Henze's masterpiece Voices on March 13th, 2010 in the Theater aan 't Spui in The Hague. Audience and performers alike were moved by the powerful combination of Henze’s music with incisive visual material and a photo exhibit by Amnesty International focused on human rights. Audience members described the performance as “impressive”, “fantastic” and “deeply moving”. By way of this newsletter we would like to thank everyone who attended. It was a great experience for the ensemble give such a special performance to a full hall! If you were unable to attend Voices last March you will be happy to know that the Voices project will certainly be repeated as part of our future programming so keep an eye on our agenda!

Prior to performing the concert version of Voices at Theater aan ‘t Spui New European Ensemble spent a day at the Haagse Hogeschool (The Hague University) where we presented two special education concerts for youth focused on human rights. The students were dumbfounded when confronted by Amnesty International’s pictures in combination with Hans Werner Henze’s music.
Actor and storyteller Winston Scholsberg led a discussion on subjects ranging from freedom of expression and religion to the right to education.

The colourful music is a mix of elements from a broad range of styles including folk, classical song form, cabaret and jazz. These elements strive to give a voice to those around the world who are unable to speak freely for themselves. A collection of 70 different instruments from around the world is used in the work with only 17 musicians on hand to play them all. This requires a high degree of virtuosity from the ensemble. Voices contains 22 songs written on texts by writers ranging from Ho Chi Minh, Herberto Padilla and Bertolt Brecht to F.C. Delius and Heinrich Heine. 

The relevance of the piece’s thematic focus to contemporary culture was the reason the New European Ensemble chose to collaborate with Amnesty International on this special project.

During this spectacular performance the New European Ensemble will bring Amnesty’s message on human rights and Henze’s musical communication of this message together.

The photo exhibition ‘Focus on Human Rights’ created by Amnesty International will be shown in the foyer of Theater aan het Spui before the concert. The exhibit is made up of pictures from all parts of the world, made by renowned photographers. The pictures illustrate the 30 articles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. During the performance these and other first-rate pictures from Amnesty’s collection will be projected.

The concert on March 13th is the final performance of the day for the 15th edition of  ‘Dag in de Branding’ (festival for new music in the Hague).
Amnesty and the New European Ensemble have also created a large-scale educational project for the Haagse Hogeschool to reach youth and inform them about human rights issues.

For more information:
Visit our Agenda for information on purchasing tickets
www.dagindebranding.nl
www.theateraanhetspui.nl

Programme:

Gustav Mahler Piano Quartet
Alfred Schnittke Piano Quartet *
Johannes Brahms Zwei Gesänge Op. 91 for alto, viola and piano
Luigi Dallapiccola Goethe-Lieder
-----
Arnold Schönberg - Ode to Napoleon Bonaparte Op. 41
Arnold Schönberg - Suite Op. 29

Christian Karlsen, conductor
Alexander Oliver, voice
Carina Vinke, alto

Sweelinkzaal, Amsterdam
http://www.myspace.com/schoenbergfestival