New glow and a recovered treasure

The opening concert of the International Cello Festival Zutphen 2025 is dedicated to music from the late 20th and 21st centuries. From lyrical contemporary classical music to exciting cross-pollinations with jazz and rock – the versatility of the cello will sound in all its glory tonight!

No fewer than three different cello ensembles will be on stage, with and without cello soloists. Asko|Schönberg, Ensemble CelloWercken and the Cello Biennale Band will play new compositions, created in collaboration with the Amsterdam Cello Biennale. A special moment is the re-performance of lost scores by the renowned cello octet Conjunto Ibérico, which continued in 2008 as Cello8tet Amsterdam. Jeroen den Herder, a former member of the octet, discovered the scores by chance in Spain and brought them to Zutphen. Metrocelli, the four excellent cellists of the Metropole Orchestra, give a foretaste of their later Late Night show. And finally: a fiery finale with phenomenal cellists Denis Shapovalov and Joël Siepman, in Shapovalov’s own composition Paganini Rocks, for two cello soloists and cello octet.

A sizzling cello evening, with the metropolitan cello in the spotlight in the 21st century!

Program:

Guus Janssen – Concertino for 4 celli and ensemble

Arnold Marinissen – Whispering Angels for cello solo, piano and ‘shadow octet’

José Luis Greco – Invisible for cello octet

Metrocelli: the cellists of the Metropole Orchestra 

– Eddie Harris Cold Duck Time (arr. Jascha Albracht) 

– Edu Lobo Canto Triste (arr. Jascha Albracht) 

– Nirvana Smells like Tango Spirit (arr. Annie Tångberg)

Denis Shapovalov Fantasy ‘Paganini Rocks’

Musicians 

Jeroen den Herder cello, Denis Shapovalov cello, Joël Siepmann cello, Asko|Schönberg, Cello Biënnale Band,
Ensemble CelloWercken, Metrocelli, Hua-Hsuan Lee piano, Jacobus den Herder presentation