An exploration of the Arabic soul Stories of the Soul - Anass Habib & Amstel Quartet Music by Oum Kalthoum, Fairuz, Sayid Darwish, Rahbani Brothers, Rabih Abou-Khalil and many others » Premiere on March 15th in Luxembourg!   Together with Moroccan singer Anass Habib, Amstel Quartet delves into the world of Arabic music and poetry. From Fairuz, ‘the cedar of Lebanon’, to the
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Amstel Quartet

Newsletter February 2020
 
Contents:

An exploration of the Arabic soul »
Up-and-coming composer Sarah Neutkens »
The most impressive concert at November music »
A truly memorable night: Classical Zen »
Saxnerd Corner: Mouthpieces »
Dates »
For all our future concerts please visit our website: www.amstelquartet.nl

An exploration of the Arabic soul

Stories of the Soul - Anass Habib & Amstel Quartet

Music by Oum Kalthoum, Fairuz, Sayid Darwish, Rahbani Brothers, Rabih Abou-Khalil and many others

» Premiere on March 15th in Luxembourg!

 

Together with Moroccan singer Anass Habib, Amstel Quartet delves into the world of Arabic music and poetry. From Fairuz, ‘the cedar of Lebanon’, to the stirring music of Rabih Abou-Khalil, and from the Egyptian father figure Sayid Darwish to the best-known works of the ‘Lady of Cairo’, Oum Kalthoum. Stories of the Soul is a wonderful exploration of the Arabic soul.

The premiere of this exciting new program will take place in Bettembourg - Olivier’s hometown - during the well-known Literatour festival. The whole concert experience will be enhanced by special activities for young and old focussing on Arab Litterature and Culture and Food, in and around the Bettembourg Castle.

▷ VIDEO - La Yadoum Igtirabi

Up-and-coming composer Sarah Neutkens

We had a great rehearsal recently with the up-and-coming composer Sarah Neutkens, workshopping her new piece ‘September’ that she has written for Amstel. At the young age of 21, Sarah released her own self-produced CD “Music for Strings” last year, which shows the influence of minimalism and neo-classical styles, but with a unique compositional and aesthetic vision.

Her new saxophone quartet ‘September’ has an intriguing mix of polyrhythms and grooves alongside serene and meditative movements... along with some melodies that really get stuck in your head! Amstel Quartet fans will definitely be hearing more of Sarah and her fascinating music in the coming period.

▷ AUDIO - SEPTEMBER TEASER

The most impressive concert at November music

Todos los Fuegos el Fuego was the most impressive concert of last year's November music, according to Rene van Peer of the Brabants Dagblad. Don't worry if you missed it, there is another chance.

Concerts and CD release
Maxim Shalygin – Todos los Fuegos el Fuego

Together with Keuris Quartet and Maxim Shalygin, we'll perform this magnificent piece again.

Shalygin’s Todos los Todos el Fuego (2019) is a new, nearly 90-minute long work for saxophone octet, inspired by the Argentinian writer Julio Cortazar. While there have been other original works for 8 saxophones, no work has ever combined tonal and avant garde elements with the scope and scale found in Maxim’s piece, called “A Mahler Symphony for 8 saxophones” by the Dutch press.

Get to know this amazing piece and its special sounds by reading Harry's article
HARRY'S SAX EFFECTS ARTICLE

February 6 2020 20:30
» Utrecht, Tivoli, Todos los fuegos el fuego
» » tickets club fluxux

February 15 2020 20:00
» Amsterdam, De Duif, CD release - Todos los fuegos el fuego
» » tickets CD release

 

press quotes:

“Devastating, breathtaking. It’s not difficult to point out the most impressive concert at November music. That was the fiery Todos los Fuegos el Fuego, for 8 saxophones by Maxim Shalygin.”

Rene van Peer – Brabants Dagblad

 

“With a wide range of colours and dynamic means the performance by Keuris and Amstel is breathtakingly intense and exciting.”

Remy Frank – Pizzicato Magazine

 

“Assisted by the phenomenally playing Keuris and Amstel Quartets, he moulded it all into a perfectly logical, resolute discourse: There’s no other way than this.”

Joep Christenhusz – NRC

▷ VIDEO - Todos los Fuegos el Fuego trailer

A truly memorable night: Classical Zen

December 7th 2019

What a magical night it was - Classical Zen in a sold-out Waalse Kerk!

Music by John Cage, Philip Glass, Joep Franssens and Hugues Dufourt ... hauntingly beautiful but also harsh, daring and confronting music: an evening full of musical contrasts, yet of great unity and oneness.

Catch the atmosphere and the audience’s reactions in the aftermovie, and scroll through some great photoshoots (credits: Isa Steijn).
▷ ZEN AFTERMOVIE ▷ ZEN PHOTOSHOOT

What an honor to have Hugues Dufourt, France’s legendary spectralist composer, amongst us that night!

Listen to the live recording of that night’s premiere of his 'Les courants polyphoniques d'après Klee', composed for the Amstel Quartet.
▷ LISTEN TO THE PREMIERE

And get immersed in the deep sounds of his “Quatuor de Saxophones”. ▷ LISTEN ON SPOTIFY

Saxnerd Corner: Mouthpieces

For many years, there were only a two names in the Classical Sax Mouthpiece game: Selmer and Vandoren. For decades, these two companies were the only two options for mainstream classical saxophonists, with most saxophone ‘schools’ choosing one or the other, and with a few smaller companies on the fringes. Nearly all renowned saxophonists used one of the ‘Big 2’ brands, and even within that narrow choice there were only a few models deemed acceptable for classical playing.

However, the world has changed! With the advent of new technology (3D printing, computer imaging) a huge variety of mouthpiece makes have sprung up, giving the classical saxophonist much more choice. In the last year, members of the Amstel Quartet have expanded their equipment arsenals to include several newly-available classical models, such as the Chedeville from Jody Jazz and the new classical model from Yanigasawa.

What is nice about some of these other brands is that their products can help open up the possibilities of the player/group by forcing the player out of their comfort zone: if one has been playing the same type of mouthpiece since the student days (which most of us have been), one can sometimes feel stuck, like the mouthpiece is playing you. Limitations of the equipment, for example a lack of projection in a certain range, or difficult articulation or tuning in a certain range, can become confused and combined with limitations of the player.

While in the end it’s the saxophonist themselves that really determines the quality of the saxophone playing, these new materials have opened up new possibilities for the AQ; different colors, new ways of blending together and combining musical lines, and an improved overall group sound.

Dates

February 6 2020
» Utrecht, Tivoli, Todos los fuegos el fuego

February 15 2020
» Amsterdam, De Duif, CD release - Todos los fuegos el fuego

March 15 2020
» Bettembourg Luxembourg, Château de Bettembourg, Sories of the Soul

March 21 2020
» Heemstede, Oude Kerk, Sax avec Elan!