World premiere of piano concerto in Merced, California
On October 5, Merced Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Ming Luke and Ralph van Raat as soloist, will perform my piano concerto, Nowhere and No-When. For tickets and more information, click here.
Premiere during AMPA on Stage Contemporary Music Days!
Together with my trio, with Sjors van der Mark on electric guitar and Hanna van Rooijen, soprano, I will be performing a piece I wrote especially for us. The piece, The air I breathe, is an hommage to the great Cathy Berberian.
For more information, click here. Hope to see you there!
Concerts at November Music and Beyond!
Last week, during November Music, my piece for violin and Tibetan singing bowl, Monkey Mind, had its world premiere! It was performed a total of three times by two violinists, Niek Baar and Tessa van Buuren, and was warmly received by the public. Plans to record it are in the works but not yet set in stone!
In other news, this Sunday, November 18, there will be an open rehearsal of my orchestra piece, Wanderlust. It will be rehearsed by the Euregio Jeugdorkest and the rehearsal will take place between 10.30-12.30 at the Cultureel Centrum Jan Van Besouw in Goirle. If you’re curious to hear my piece, please come and listen!
Ralph van Raat will also play my solo piano piece, Diamonds in the Mud, at the Galerie Marzee in Nijmegen on December 23. Beyond that, there will be a few more performances of my music coming up this season which I will continue to update on my website. So, keep checking back if you’re curious about the upcoming season!
World premiere at November Music
For November Music this year, I was asked to write a solo violin piece for Niek Baar. I did this and what was resulted was my piece for solo violin and Tibetan singing bowl, called “Monkey Mind.” This piece would also be played at a symposium for how spirituality relates to music, and this was my guiding factor for adding a Tibetan singing bowl. During the performance, Niek will “bow” the singing bowl just as he would his instrument, and this creates a meditative, and at the same time theatrical, atmosphere to the performance. If this sounds interesting, please come to the performance on November 4th!
Scholarship for Musical Excellence
I was recently awarded the Fontys Scholarship for Musical Excellence for the quality of my work at Fontys Hogeschool voor de Kunsten in Tilburg. This is not only a huge honor but will also help to offset the costs of my program. Thank you, Fontys!
World premiere of Diamonds in the Mud
On March 4, Ralph van Raat will play an afternoon and evening concert filled with mostly contemporary Dutch piano music at De Doelen concert hall in Rotterdam. Among other pieces by many esteemed Dutch composers, Ralph will play the world premiere of my solo piano piece, Diamonds in the Mud!
Click here for tickets and more information. I hope to see you there!
World premiere during Into The Great Wide Open Festival!
My piece for solo piano, Song of Grace, will see its world premiere during the festival Into The Great Wide Open in Oost-Vlieland! Ralph van Raat will perform my piece, alongside pieces by Debussy, Adams, Joep Franssens, and solo piano transcriptions of Radiohead songs. For tickets and more information, click here.
Premiere in Sofia, Bulgaria!
On April 7, my solo piano piece, Haze, was premiered in Bulgaria by the renowned Dutch pianist, Ralph van Raat! The piece was well received, and was streamed live on Facebook. Check out the full performance here! Haze begins at 1’26”.
World premiere in Zwolle
On March 5 at the Zwolse Theaters was the world premiere of my solo piano piece, Haze. Ralph also played the piece again a week later, on March 12, during the Slow Music Festival at der Aa-Kerk in Groningen.
A little about the piece:
The title of this piece, Haze, is a nod to the work which was its source of inspiration: Leoš Janáček’s In the Mists. While searching for an opening for a piano piece, I came across a particularly striking broken chord in the first movement of In the Mists. The chord was beautiful yet haunting, and established a contemplative atmosphere which I hoped to be able to recreate in my own way. Thus, this chord became the beginning and end point in Haze, making an anchor of inevitable solemnity as an overall arch in the piece.
New piece for cello and piano!
I have just this month finished a new piece for cello and piano, entitled Cassel. The piece was written for my father, Robert Cassel Pinkham, and for our now deceased relatives with the surname of Cassel. The piece came to light as a kind of homage to the deceased Cassels, as well as serving as an uplifting tale of an important family relationship.
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