It doesn’t get any newer than this: the six pieces on tonight’s programme are all world premieres. It’s no coincidence that five of the six pieces were written for Ralph van Raat, who will enthusiastically guide you through the programme from the stage. Fresh chords find their truest champion in Van Raat. As a matter of fact, besides being an internationally renowned pianist, he is also a qualified pilot. Together, the six compositions offer a showcase of today’s Dutch music: rich, vibrant, and exceptionally varied.

Robin de Raaff previously composed two thrilling piano concertos for Van Raat, the second of which premiered at the Holland Festival 2022. Peter Adriaansz uses a completely different idiom, creating fascinating mechanisms without organic development. Jacob ter Veldhuis, the self-proclaimed ‘avant-pop composer’, ‘Componist des Vaderlands’ Anne-Maartje Lemereis, and choral composer Gerard Beljon, create music that strike an immediate chord with the soul. The eclectic Janssen, a leading pianist himself, refers in his composition to the series of visual artworks of Dutch artist Ger van Elk

Program:

Bart Spaan: Moonlit
Peter Adriaansz Chaser B (worldpremiere)*
Anne-Maartje Lemereis Sonatine No. 1 (wereldpremière)*
Jacob ter Veldhuis In Limbo (worldpremiere)*
Gerard Beljon Beat NXT (worldpremiere)*
Guus Janssen Elf Standpunten van het Kinselmeer (worldpremiere)

* written for Ralph van Raat

Gerard Beljon:

On May 23, Ralph van Raat will be playing BEAT NXT in its entirety in the Muziekgebouw in Amsterdam because you can only hear a part of it above. I made Beat 20 years ago, also for Ralph. That piece was about rhythm. Ralph asked me to make another piece for him last year. BEAT NXT, I thought. Because everything is about rhythm and of course BEAT NXT too. You can feel the rhythm, the beat is still as alive as it was 20 years ago, you don’t have to talk about it. But to do that anyway: on one side you hear the virtuoso pianist Ralph van Raat, on the other side the don’t-be-so-hard rock piano. Ralph feels at home in both worlds. Me, too.