New Notes Amsterdam

Nicolas Hodges, piano

Nicolas Hodges (1970) was born in London and currently lives in Germany, where he teaches at the Musikhochschule in Stuttgart. Hodges studied piano with Robert Bottone at Winchester College. He studied composition at the University of Cambridge and studied with Morton Feldman and Robert Saxton at Dartington College of Arts. He has worked closely with composers including John Adams, Helmut Lachenmann and Karlheinz Stockhausen. Several composers have dedicated works to him, including Elliott Carter ('Dialogues for Piano and Orchestra'). Hodges regularly gives concerts with leading orchestras including the BBC Symphony, Boston Symphony, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic and Melbourne Symphony.

Guus Janssen, organ

Guus Janssen (1951) studied piano and composition at the Sweelinck Conservatory in Amsterdam. As a pianist and harpsichordist he performed in various formations, with musicians such as John Zorn and Gidon Kremer. Since the early 1980s he has led his own ensembles, from (piano) trio to 11-tet and (opera) orchestra. As a soloist he can mainly be heard in his own compositions and as an improviser at various international festivals. Guus Janssen's compositions range from piano music and chamber music to symphonic works and operas. They have been performed by, among others, the Mondriaan Quartet, the Nieuw Ensemble, the Radio Chamber Orchestra, the Concertgebouw Orchestra and the Ebony Band with musicians such as Eleonore Pameijer, Walter van Hauwe, Harry Sparnaay and Gerard Bouwhuis as soloists. In 2012 Guus Janssen received the prestigious Johan Wagenaar Prize for his entire oeuvre.

New Notes Amsterdam

Nieuwe Noten Amsterdam in Plein Theater celebrates its fifth anniversary this season! The series offers a stage for contemporary chamber music. Adventurous and small-scale performances, new compositions and leading musicians; in Plein Theater you get the chance to experience new music in an intimate atmosphere every month. The curators and artistic directors of Nieuwe Noten Amsterdam are composer Aspasia Nasopoulou and bass clarinetist Fie Schouten.