Verso - Matthijs Koene, panpipes and Stefan Gerritsen, guitar

Matthijs Koene                   

Matthijs Koene (1977) was appointed main subject teacher at the Conservatorium of Amsterdam after graduating Cum Laude from the same institute for his panflute studies. His vision and playing methods have enhanced the technical possibilities and the musical expression of the panflute, which has led to many new works for panflute, both solo and in ensembles with various instrumental combinations, as well as with organ. A number of renowned composers have written works for him, among whom are Roderik de Man, Klaas de Vries, Guus Janssen, Theo Loevendie, Daan Manneke, Piet Kee, Ron Ford, René Uijlenhoet, Chiel Meijering, etc. His duo with organ player Jos van der Kooy has premiered several works, but also experiments with old music performances, such as the authentic flute sonatas by J.S. Bach, written neither for panflute nor for organ. His duo with guitar player Stefan Gerritsen has won various awards, such as the Vriendenkrans and Concertgebouw Award in 2003, the award for contemporary music presented by the Comradio competition in Barcelona and the IBLA Grand Prize in Italy. The duo has given recitals all over the world, including Carnegie Hall in New York. The duo’s CDs have been praised by the press. The Volkskrant spoke of Koene’s mastery and awarded the CD “Chasing Piazzolla” 4 stars. On the CD “Verso plays Verso”: Soundboard Magazine in 2010: Koene does things with his instrument that sound quite impossible at times. Klassieke Zaken in 2010: Koene is now generally recognized as an absolute master on his instrument. Matthijs is also a member of the ensemble Black Pencil and the Zerafin Ensemble, who did a successful tour in 2016 together with Dutch singer/songwriter Spinvis. The Black Pencil ensemble works internationally and has built up a large repertoire with works by internationally renowned composers in a short period of time. Their latest CD received a 4-star review in the Volkskrant. Matthijs has played the solo parts of flute concerts by Mozart, Vivaldi and Quantz and in November 2016 he played Telemann’s Concert pour la flûte pastourelle in a concert series with “the Holland Baroque Society”. But even in this genre Matthijs has proven to be an advocate of autonomous repertoire for the panflute. In January 2014 he premiered a concert by the Italian composer Francesco Hoch in cooperation with the Swiss ensemble I Barocchisti led by Diego Fasolis. In October 2015 Matthijs premiered the double concerto for panflute and recorder by the Dutch composer Hans Koolmees, together with blockflute player Erik Bosgraaf and the Riga Sinfonietta, led by Normunds Šnē. In 2018 Matthijs will play a new double concerto for recorder and panpipes by Calliope Tsupaki in the Concertgebouw of Amsterdam. In 2019 he will play the solo part of a still-to-be-written orchestral piece by Klaas de Vries in cooperation with the Radio Philharmonic Orchestra in the matinee of the Amsterdam Concertgebouw. www.matthijskoene.nl 

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Stefan Gerritsen          

"  Een Grandioze gitarist”  de Volkskrant 22 juni 2016. " Guitarist Gerritsen is virtuosic and fluent in all of the techniques of modern guitar playing ". (Soundboard magazine 2011) 

 Stefan Gerritsen is an established artist in the Netherlands. He was awarded various times in international music competitions, both as a soloist as with Verso: the duo he forms with Panflutist Matthijs Koene. In 2006 he won second prize in the international guitar competition of Zwolle, In 2006 Verso was Topwinner of the IBla Grand Prize. They received the highest mark of the jury (9.5 ) They were also winner of the “Vriendenkrans” and Concertgebouwprijs (Amsterdam 2003) and Comradio Contempory music prize ( Barcelona 2003) As a soloist with orchestra he performed the guitar concertos of Villa-Lobos, Vivaldi and Tedesco. Besides his solo engagements he has worked together with renowned ensembles for contemporary music, such as the Nieuw Ensemble and Scala. He also regularly performs with classical singers. Stefan Gerritsen played in many prestigious venues, like the Carnegie hall in New York and the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam. He performed in festivals in South Africa, Greece, California and Germany. In 2011 Soundboard magazine wrote: Guitarist Gerritsen is virtuosic and fluent in all of the techniques of modern guitar playing. Many composers wrote pieces for him, both for his duo and chamber-music groups, and more and more for the 31-toneguitar. Recently he is involved in establishing new repertoire for guitar and choir. Composers as Roderik de Man and Gerard Beljon dedicated their compositions to this project. Stefan Gerritsen graduated from the Conservatory of Amsterdam ( Master cum laude), having studied with Lex Eisenhardt. He continued his studies with the Canadian guitar virtuoso Laura Young and received a scholarship to study with Alex Garrobé in Barcelona. Besides the classical guitar Mr. Gerritsen also plays on 31-tone guitar, which is very close to mean-tone tuning and for this reason very suitable for music written by composers such as Dowland, Sweelinck and Weiss. He has been invited to record a disc on this instrument for Turtle records. Leading Dutch newspaper wrote in 2016: Stefan Gerritsen is a “ grandioze gitarist”

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