Dutch musician based in Boston Jorrit Dijkstra and Spanish pianist based in Amsterdam Sonsoles Alonso present a program of contemporary music which explores the bandwidth between acoustic and electronic music, using the piano on the one end, the Lyricon (an analog electronic wind instrument from the 70's) in the middle and soundtracks on the other end of the spectrum. By playing works by composers of classical as well as improvisational backgrounds, they blur the lines between electronic and acoustic music, and between composition and improvisation.
Program:
-Jorrit Dijkstra: Reces 106 A (2006), Reces 106 B (2006) and Reces 106 C (2006)
-Dietrich Eichmann: Studies No. 390, No. 552 and No.738 (2006)
-Vanessa Lann: Leaps of Faith (original version 2001)
-Jorrit Dijkstra: Improvisation Solo
-Benoît Delbecq: Temps Mêlés, Temps Posés (original version 2003)
-Sonsoles Alonso and Jorrit Dijkstra: Improvisations
Dutch saxophonist and composer Jorrit Dijkstra has been an active member of Amsterdam's vivid jazz and improvisation scene since 1985, before moving to Boston in early 2002. The critical press compares his clear, flexible sound and lyrical improvisation to Ornette Coleman, Paul Desmond and John Zorn, showing the broad spectrum of his saxophone style. Besides the alto saxophone he plays the Lyricon and uses electronics to process his saxophone sounds live on stage. Jorrit Dijkstra studied improvisation and composition with Misha Mengelberg, Steve Coleman, Steve Lacy, Michael Gandolfi and Lee Hyla. He has performed extensively in Europe and North America, and he has released six CDs of his own music on the Songlines, BVHaast, and Trytone labels. He has worked with Anthony Braxton, Gerry Hemingway, Herb Robertson, Barre Phillips, Willem Breuker, and Guus Janssen. In 1995 he received the prestigious Podium Prize from the Dutch Jazz Foundation, and in 1998 a Fulbright grant to study and teach at the New England Conservatory in Boston. As a composer, Jorrit has written commissions for the Tetzepi Big Band, Harvard Jazz band, and Theatre companies Ruby Slippers in Vancouver and Theater Coop in Boston. Jorrit is currently co-leading the cool-jazz Quartet Sound-Lee! (Amsterdam), The Flatlands Collective (with musicians from Chicago), and his duo with drummer John Hollenbeck. In Boston he is active with Curt Newton, James Coleman, Charlie Kohlhase and Stephen Drury's Callithumpian Consort.
Sonsoles Alonso (Spain) holds degrees in Classical Piano Performance from the Royal Conservatory of Madrid and the Manhattan School of Music (Master's Degree) in New York.
She also studied privately with Vitalij Margulis in Freiburg (Germany) and with Philip Kawin in New York.
At the Conservatory of Amsterdam she followed the course "Contemporary Music through Non-Western Techniques" focusing on rhythmic complexity.
She has participated in masterclasses given by Lazar Berman, Nicolas Hodges, Karl-Ulrich Schnabbel and Ronald Farren-Price.
While in New York, Sonsoles developed an interest in contemporary and improvised music which was influenced by her teachers Anthony de Mare (20th-century piano literature) and Morton Feldman's disciple Nils Vigeland (20th-century analysis).
She moved to Amsterdam in 1996 and continued to specialize in the interpretation of contemporary music as a soloist and as a member of various ensembles.
She enjoys working with many composers, both young and established from which she often commissions new pieces.
She collaborates with established performers as well and often does projects which involve other disciplines and/or cross-overs between music styles. (Live) electronics is also a main focus. Recently she performed the concert series P.A.T with singer Jannie Pranger, a program of solo piano and solo voice with electronics.
She has been heard at numerous international festivals including Traces of Voices, Gaudeamus Music Week, Festival Randspiele (Berlin) Spazio Musica (Italy) and Darmstadt (Germany). Recently, performances have brought her to Istanbul (AKBank), Murcia (Spain, Festival Internacional Punto Aparte), Boston (Goethe Institut and Zeitgeist Gallery) and New York (Kingston, Deep Listening Space of Pauline Oliveros). In august of 2005 she premiered BAG during the Festival Boulevard in Den Bosch (Holland) with music by Kees Wieringa written for 4 pianos in the 4 Grand Piano Pavillion (a tent designed by Dre Wapenaar for 4 grand pianos) with live electronics by Marcel Wierckx.
Many of her performances have been broadcasted on radio and television, including the Concertzender, NPS-4FM, Radio Noord Holland, RNE (Radio Nacional de España) and TVE (Television Española).
In march of this year she gave an entire week of Masterclasses on the subject of 'Piano and live electronics' at the Conservatory of Santa Cruz (Spain) together with Jorrit Tamminga, teacher of (live) electronic music at both the Conservatory of Amsterdam and the School of the Arts of Utrecht/Hilversum (HKU).
From a review in the Brabants Dagblad: "The highest point of the evening was Luigi Nono's "Sofferte onde Serene," played formidably by pianist Sonsoles Alonso... ...Alonso brought forth with thunder the most deep and profound caverns of the piano."
Jorrit Tamminga (1973) studied Music & Technology at the Utrecht School of the Arts and Sonology at the Royal Conservatory of The Hague. During these studies he concentrated on electronic composition and sound synthesis. In most of his works electronics play an important role. He composed works for speakers only (Orfeo), saxophone and live electronics (Klep Dicht!), carillon and soundtrack (Inside Out) and gamelan and live electronics (Tijdverspilling).
Recently Tamminga programmed live electronics for several music productions such as Faust (Theatre Group Artery with the Nederlands Kamerkoor) and the Seven Chakras (a string quartet written by Wim Henderickx).
As a musician he plays live electronics in several ensembles such as
Herautronique with trumpet player Hans Leeuw and in duo with Sonsoles Alonso.
Upcoming commissions include an electronic composition for the Belgian ensemble Champs d'Action together with composer Henderickx (Festival van Vlaanderen, October 2005) and a composition for the Zephyr String Quartet with live electronics (March 2006).
Tamminga teaches electronic music at the Conservatory of Amsterdam and Sound Design at Music & Technology department at the Utrecht School of the Arts (HKU).