In (plenty of ) detail

The cursive texts are side notes and therefore do not have to be read in order to follow my career path. They, however, show my influences at a certain point on my path that have been quite influential.

Koninklijke harmonie de Berggalm, Klimmen
My musical journey started in the small town of Klimmen in Limburg, the southern province of the Netherlands. In primary school we got the opportunity to sign up and start with music lessons provided by the local wind band. In my case this was the “Koninklijke harmonie de Berggalm, Klimmen”. In my family I was the odd one out, because my brother and sister started in a different wind band nearby in Voerendaal, where also my mother played the clarinet. For me it made sense, however, as also a few friends and classmates of mine joined in these lessons. After having made a lot of progress on the recorder I was allowed to try a wind band instrument. The horn was definitely the instrument for me. It sounded nice and warm compared to the trumpet I also tried on the same day. My eagerness, however, to learn the cello has never gone away.

First lessons
Shortly after having chosen the horn, my first lessons started with Debbie Jender. At that time she was a student with the main horn teachers of the conservatorium in Maastricht, where I later would proceed my own studies as well. I started on a really old, dirty and dented single F horn. I had lessons together with another student, who had a single B flat horn, so in the beginning Debbie had to explain certain techniques separate for us. After a while I also switched to a single B flat horn, which really was a challenge, because the fingerings for the F horn were already fixed in my mind. This period, however, really showed me the fun of playing the horn. We played songs together with CD’s and would do duets together, which I absolutely loved.

After about two years of lessons with Debbie, she had to move for work. Then I proceeded my lessons with Txemi Etxebarria, who was also a student in Maastricht at that time and later would become the conductor of the Philips Symfonieorkest in Eindhoven. He gave me a solid basis for technique and listening exercises. He also gave me a self-compiled CD with nearly a hundred tracks, consisting of Strauss and Weber recordings by Hermann Baumann, Mozart concertos with Stefan Dohr, recordings of the London Horn Sound and Vienna Horns, along with Barry Tuckwell’s complete baroque concerto recordings. This CD made an incomprehensible impact on my life and opened my ears to what the horn had to offer, not only as a soloist, but also in the orchestra. It spiked my interest in different styles of orchestral music. Speaking of CD’s: The inspiration was so obvious that also my mother noticed and occasionally would go to the “Kruidvat” and take certain CD boxes with her. In the Netherlands the Kruidvat CD’s aren’t necessarily known for the best recordings, but there were a few gems among the pile to which I still occasionally listen, like “Die Jahreszeiten” by Joseph Haydn, recorded by the Freiburger Barockorchester under the direction of René Jacobs.

The period I had lessons with Txemi was probably the time I realized I wanted to make a career in music. He recommended to have lessons with his main subject teachers at that time, Will Sanders and Willy Bessems, in Maastricht. There I started in the so called talent class, where I had theory courses as well as main subject lessons with my soon to be teachers, aside from my daily secondary school courses. After I graduated from my secondary school in Heerlen in 2017, I started my full time bachelor course.

Orchestral exploration
During the previously described period I participated in numerous orchestras aside from my local wind band. Already in 2010 I auditioned and was accepted in the newly formed Amikejo orchestra, which later became the Limburgs Jeugd Symfonie Orkest or LJSO, where I played for 5 years. There was a small overlap of two years with my audition and participation in the national youth orchestra of the Netherlands, up to 21 years old, called JeugdOrkest Nederland or JON, where I also stayed for 5 years from 2013 onward. This orchestra probably made the most impact on my development in orchestral behaviour, expectations, focuss, rhythm, accompaniment of soloists, acoustic adaptation, social interaction and networking. It is also the orchestra that provided my debut in the Royal Concertgebouw in 2014, provided my television debut from the Royal Carré theatre in 2015 and above all worked together with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, where in 2016 I joined the RCO for a concert during their season opening under the direction on Daniele Gatti. Also several student orchestras provided me with experience during this period, like the Symfonie in de Achterhoek project, which later became the Nederlands Symfonie Project or NeSP, where I participated from 2014 to 2018. Just before I graduated high school in 2017 I also played with the Dutch National Student Orchestra or NSO, which I joined again in February of 2019.

These years were crucial in learning a core repertoire of symphonic pieces, working with renowned soloists like Pieter Wispelwey, Rosanne Philippens and Maria Milstein and many different conductors like Jurjen Hempel, Jussi Jaatinen, Pim Cuijpers and even Daniele Gatti, whilst developing my technique. The orchestral exploration has never stopped. Each orchestra, conductor, their expertise, program, culture and all circumstances are always different, which I absolutely love. It constantly spikes new interests for me.

A bachelor student
During my bachelor years in Maastricht, I really developed a solid technique for playing the horn. Will Sanders had developed an extensive method over time with the goal to make horn playing as comfortable as possible with a large focus on air compression and a centered sound. Technical exercises always went along with solo and audition repertoire for which also class concerts and mock auditions were organized. Willy Bessems in turn helped a great deal in discipline and interpretation in terms of making logical breathing pauses and phrasing along with great advice on musical aspects that fit the period of the music best. A key part of his lessons were always etudes or studies that he would adjust to the player if necessary. For example, he would ask to do certain etudes in several transpositions. At the time I didn’t really understand why, but as soon as I discovered more and more orchestral and especially opera repertoire all the transposition exercises suddenly made sense.

My bachelor years were also the years during which I discovered more and more styles of playing. An extensive article about this can be found on my blog page. Aside from participating in the Fringe Orchestra projects with the jazz department of the conservatorium in Maastricht, I also participated in an initiative called “music in the making”. This was a yearly initiative for contemporary music. It wasn’t about performing already written contemporary music, but getting an idea across to the audience in literally any way possible. We would start out with songs (Lieder) by Schumann or Schubert, dilute the main impressions out of them and start all over with these impressions, characteristics or emotions and create a completely new work. We worked on adapting these compositions to the halls we would perform them in and also worked with audience participation. It made me understand my relation to an audience a lot better and in a way it also made me more comfortable as a soloist, because I was used to force certain interpretations upon myself instead of being convinced of my own logic of the music I was about to play.

The Pandemic
The latter part of my bachelor studies was overshadowed by the Covid-19 pandemic and its consequences. One of the most memorable music experiences I ever had happened in March of 2020. By this time I had built up a great musical network and won auditions to be admitted into the National Youth Orchestra of the Netherlands (NJO) and Jong Metropole. The NJO orchestra is basically the older version for music students in the Netherlands and Belgium of the before mentioned JeugdOrkest Nederland (JON). I already played concerts with the NJO and toured with them in 2018 and 2019. The Jong Metropole is the younger version of the world famous Metropole Orkest, that is specialized in playing pop and jazz repertoire. A recording of me playing with the Jong Metropole in 2019 can be found my projects page. During the NJO winter tour in January of 2020 there already were concerning news reports about the virus that was rapidly spreading across Asia. I had a lesson with professor Thomas Hauschild in Leipzig in the last week of February 2020. This was an extraordinary lesson in which I learned a lot about historic instruments, Mozart, my own technique, my expectations and about a possible master study. There were also other students there who talked about the spreading virus. I still didn’t realize how bad it would be until the Jong Metropole project of March 2020.

This project was already one of the highlights of my career. It was organized by the Metropole Orkest together with Snarky Puppy artists Michael League and Jamison Ross, who also rehearsed and played with us. For musicians within the classical orchestra world these names might not ring a bell, but within the pop and jazz genres these are amazing players and arrangers. Snarky Puppy is also known for their incredible live recordings. During this project week, however, my complete future and probably everyone else’s future in the Netherlands would change. Before the concept of a “bubble“ was a thing, I felt as if I were in a bubble during this project, because I was mostly isolated from the regular media outlets. Suddenly, for me, on the Thursday before our concert weekend and tour we heard from an official of the Metropole Orkest that none of these activities would be able to take place and that the country would be in lock-down. However, the management of the Metropole Orkest tried and eventually were able to organize a stream event on the next day. From this day it was only allowed to have a maximum of 50 people in one room, which retrospectively still wouldn’t do much to stop a spreading virus. From the next Sunday the country was in a full lock-down. A very uncertain time had begun in which all plans were suddenly canceled. The full recording of this particular stream can be found here.

During the pandemic people found ways to cope with their situation. Online lessons were the new normal and after a certain period people were also allowed to make music together again. In order to still gain some orchestral experience, students would organize projects together as the conservatorium in Maastricht wasn‘t able to organize them for their students. Although my studies couldn’t continue as regular, I still had to do my final exam in 2021. Only a very small audience was allowed at my final recital and although I wanted to start a master study, in a lot of places it wasn‘t possible to do entrance exams in person, because of covid restrictions. Suddenly everyone needed their own recording studio and had to be able to make high quality recordings in order to do entrance exams. This unfortunately didn‘t work out for me.

Utrecht
This period were I had neither a study nor a career was really hard for me. Because of a trumpet player and very good friend, Sebastiaan Haverkate, with whom I also played in the Sweelinck Koperkwintet, I was able to move to Utrecht in the beginning of February 2022. You can read more about the Sweelinck Koperkwintet on our website. By the end of 2021 things were getting back to normal. In September of that year I won the audition for the National Youth Jazz Orchestra of the Netherlands (NJJO), which brought amazing experiences along with it. To my surprise I was asked to play with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in December of 2021 under the direction of Fabio Luisi and with the Metropole Orkest under the direction of Vince Mendoza with soloist Richard Bona. Also, because I did a preround in the Netherlands for the European Union Youth Orchestra and Fokke van Heel was in the jury for that preround, he invited me to play together with him in the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra under the direction of Lorenzo Viotti in March of 2022. Unfortunately, when my professional career would finally be able to take off, the final lock-down of December 2021 canceled my planned concerts with both the Concertgebouw Orchestra and Metropole Orkest again. Luckily, the concerts with the NedPho and Lorenzo Viotti would still take place.

2022 was full of activities that would not have been possible if I would not have been living in Utrecht. This year was full of NJJO activities, like a full tour through the Netherlands including a concert at the North Sea Jazz festival and even a tour through Indonesia in November. Also, aside from the concerts with the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra, several other professional orchestras like the Residentie Orkest Den Haag and the orchestra of the Belgian Guides provided amazing experiences. In July of this year I won the audition for the Theresia Orchestra in Salzburg, which opened a completely new world of historically informed practise to me. Whilst the Theresia Orchestra projects were still ongoing, I finally set my sights on starting a master study. In June of 2023 I was admitted to the hornclass of Prof. Saar Berger in Trossingen after a succesfull audition.

Trossingen
My path will continue from here... was the text I wrote in the summer of 2023. This update is from 16-11-2024: What a year it has been!!! I made way more progress than I could ever have hoped for. Prof. Saar Berger and the Musikhochschule in Trossingen brought me renewed self-confidence in solo, orchestra and technical playing, finale after finale in auditions, countless masterclasses, a temporary contract with the Tiroler Symphonieorchester Innsbruck and as of now a fixed position in the Philharmonic Orchestra of Regensburg. And all of this in just one year. A lot of this progress, I think, is because of a different mentality that I worked on with Saar Berger. Until my master studies I had been very critical of my own playing and even during playing. I finally found a way of feeling good because of my own playing. That has brought me further and further.

Trossingen as a town probably also contributed to my progress. It’s either a big village or a very small city. Either way, there were close to no distractions from my practice room. Quite often, however, I would go to the opera in Zürich, only 2 and a half hours away by train (in theory), to visit a good friend and also past student of Will Sanders and Willy Bessems, Karin van Rens, who was the academist there. She was able to provide me with tickets for stunning opera productions and also accommodation in the academists’ residence wash room. Her time in the orchestra academy came to an end in 2024, so a new audition was organized in June of that year. I was very eager to win this position, but even before June I won a temporary contract in Innsbruck, but I had already sent the confirmation to go to the audition in Zürich. I decided one day before the audition, whilst in Zürich because of a quintet project I was helping Karin with, not to go to the audition. Even if I would have won that audition, I should not still be in doubt about where I would want to go. As I also met my soon to be colleague Sebastian Lampert in Zürich that day, I finally took the decision that evening to go and work in Innsbruck.