20th Anniversary HET CONSORT - Concerts in Zwolle and Amsterdam!

[Alex Timmerman]

Dear friends,

On behalf of all the musicians of the Dutch Mandolin Chamber Orchestra HET CONSORT it is my great pleasure to announce our 20th Anniversary!

We celebrate this Jubileum in October 2010 with a weekend full of mandolin activities. We are proud to inform you that two dear (and mutual café) friends, Victor Kioulaphides and Alison Stephens, will be our very special guests and that they - each in their own way - will 'play' a significant musical role during the concerts in Zwolle and Amsterdam (NL).

If you love the mandolin and you’ve ever thought of visiting Amsterdam or coming to the Netherlands, then this is probably the right time to do so! Be sure, you’re all invited and very welcome!


Friday - October 15th
An evening concert starting at 20.00 hours at the Art Center Muzerie in Zwolle.
This concert will highlight one of the two main objectives of the HET CONSORT foundation, namely that of performing chamber music originally composed for mandolin solo and/or mandolin in combination with other instruments. The other goal is to inspire composers two create new music for Mandolin Orchestra.

Besides music from other composers this concert will host a special guest of honor, as we like to pay tribute to Victor Kioulaphides ánd his wonderful contribution to chamber music inwhich the mandolin and the guitar are so well represented.
Programmed are compositions in all kind of instrument strengths, as there will be performances by soloists, duos up to quart- and quintets etc.
Besides the program contribution by the members of HET CONSORT we are delighted to inform you that the internationally renowned English mandolinist Alison Stephens will highlight this concert with her performance!
Two other great guest musicians who will also make this concert to a memorable event are the harpist Annegreet Rouw and Eva van den Dool on piano.

The exact program and all cooperating musicians of
the ‘Victor Kioulaphides and Friends’ concert
will be announced later.

[Alex Timmerman]

Saturday - October 16th,
To celebrate their 20th anniversary the Dutch Mandolin Chamber Orchestra HET CONSORT will give a special 20th Anniversary HET CONSORT concert starting at 15.00 hours at the Amstelkerk (Amstel Church) in the very heart of Amsterdam, Netherlands. Special guests will be the well-known English mandolinist Alison Stephens and the Greek/American composer Victor Kioulaphides.

Alison Stephens and Sebastiaan de Grebber, concert master of HET CONSORT, will appear as a soloists duo accompanied by HET CONSORT in what is regarded to be one of the most famous compositions ever written: the Double Violin Concerto BWV 1043 by Johann Sebastian Bach. We are sure that their virtuose playing will garantee a dazzling performance of this wonderful Double Concerto.
Exciting will also be the première of the ‘Sinfonia a pizzico’ by Victor Kioulaphides. This large scale 4-movement work - an homage to Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy - is dedicated to HET CONSORT and especially composed for this occasion.

Besides Bach’s Double Concerto, the program includes compositions by i.e. John Craton, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Raffaele Calace, Franz Burkhart, Victor Kioulaphides and Astor Piazzolla.


After the concert we would like to toast with you on our 20th anniversary.

20 years Het CONSORT!
Afternoon concert - Saturday, October 16th, 2010.
Amstelkerk, Amstelveld 10, Amsterdam.
The concert Starts at 15.00 hours.
Admission: € 7.50, children under 12 years: € 2.50.

[Alex Timmerman]

Sunday - October 17th,
Afternoon concert by Sebastiaan de Grebber, mandoline and Eva van den Dool, piano in the music series of the FUNEN Concerts Art Productions, Funenpark 125, 1018 AK, Amsterdam.

The program includes works for mandolin and piano by a.o. Ludwig van Beethoven, Raffaele Calace, Carlo Munier and Luciano Chailly.

The concert starts at 15.00 hours. Tickets: € 10,-.

[Alex Timmerman]

Cheers from all of us!

[vkioulaphides]

Victor Kioulaphides and Friends

*blush*

Shouldn't it rather be "Het Consort & Jet-Lagged, Groggy Guest New Yorker?"

Let the countdown begin... all of a sudden, these summer months have become "pre-October"... ;-) I cannot even begin to express how exciting all of this is. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Cheers to one and all,

Victor

[Jim Garber]

Happy Birthday to all of you!! Wish I could see you in Amsterdam. Hope to see you again in New York. BTW I love the less formal photo with instruments upside down etc.

[Ali]

YAY! It IS SO exciting - can't wait!
The Bach will be lovely as will the whole Amsterdam concert. The concert the night before will also be fantastic. I get to meet all my nice mando friends and be nutty with Sebastiaan and Eva again......YAY YAY
Alex and I first spoke on the phone in about 1993 - so its been a long wait to meet him too!
Yay!

[Plamen Ivanov]

CONGRATULATIONS and greetings from Sofia! I will think about joining your celebration. Even if i don't manage to take few free days from work i'm pretty sure that at least one Bulgarian will join the event. A very good mandolin player and a friend of mine called Oleg is studying there, so he will most probably participate.

Good luck to you all!
Plamen

[Margriet]

CONGRATULATIONS I will think about joining your celebration. Good luck to you all!
Plamen

YES!!!!! DO!!!!!
We, friends of friends.......will find room to stay the nights. We can have some in our house, but it is closer to Zwolle than to Amsterdam. More international people interested ?

Alex: will there be an opportunity (and wouldn't it be nice) to chime in with several friends of both Victor and The Consort ? Some time in the weekend ?

I am looking forward !
Margriet

[etbarbaric]

Heartfelt congratulations Alex! And to all the members of your merry band.

Best,

Eric

[Bob A]

What a delightful anniversary celebration - three days of mandojoy with most of the 21st century mandolin notables in attendance. My congratulations to the Consort, and felicitations to the performers and composers, both currently composing and decomposing.

[vkioulaphides]

Thank you, Bob. I plan to leave decomposition for after I return to New York ;-)

Cheers,

Victor

[Bob A]

Please to not hurry with that particular plan, Victor. Personally I plan to put it off for some time when I have nothing better to do.

[vkioulaphides]

Wisely spoken, my friend. Will do. Lots and lots of music left in me still...

Cheers,

Victor

[John Craton]

Congratulations Alex, Victor, et al.!! Would dearly love to be there with you ... only just saw the announcement moments ago ... but I rather doubt my schedule will permit it this October. At the risk of haunting you, I will say that I'll definitely be with you in spirit. My greetings, best wishes, and hearty congratulations to one and all! Many years!

[Alex Timmerman]

Hi all,

Just to give you all a CONSORT update on the proceedings toward our jubilee concert. Enjoy the video and you'll have a notion of what our activities have been in the past.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CMympvDO1ek

Best greetings from Holland.

Alex

[vkioulaphides]

Hello, Alex, and all friends on the other side of the pond.

I just noticed (curiously for the first time) that the picture attached to your username is rather... Commedia dell'arte ;-)

What a WONDERFUL journey, this video and anthology of snapshots! I can't congratulate you enough for all you have done. If my words do not suffice, let me then hope that my music does. Twenty years are a HUGE legacy and body of work. Bravi!

Can't wait...

Cheers,

Victor

[Alex Timmerman]

Hello all,


Today I received the sad news that our dear friend Alison Stephens is no longer with us.

I am sad and find it hard to express my feelings about it.
But, because she has always been such a special friend to me and since I have such great respect for her, I want to write the following few lines for you and myself...
I mean, there was so much Alison wanted to do and she was so full of plans. So enthusiast as she was telling me about a film and TV session (she did in the first week of October(!). And so excited about a new CD she would start recording in October.

Of course - as she had informed me several months ago - I knew that the cancer had come back - but in our telephone conversations and through the e-mails there was always her great excitement for the up-coming concert that we were preparing. Really, always with the idea she would again ‘win the battle’ this time and perform with us.

Up to last Tuesday, the day she send me an iPhone message telling me that things didn't look good. She was back in the hospital and, because of the time all kinds of research and therapies would take, more or less apologizing, saying that she would not be able to be with us performing the Bach 'Double Concerto' planned for next weekend Oct. 16th.

Alison closed her message with 'Have a fantastic concert and I'm sure Sebastiaan and Ferdinand will be brilliant soloists'.

I answered that there was, of course, no need to apologize. And that we could do the concert some other time later. Not knowing of what time might bring. Indeed much to soon… .


Alison Stephens will be remembered and missed by me and my orchestra, not only because she gave us so much to enjoy with her talent - being such a fine and gifted musician - but even more so because she was such a special, warm and beautiful person.


Speaking on behalf of all members of Het CONSORT we wish Alison's family and her friends strength and comfort in this sad time.


Alex.

[Alex Timmerman]

Hello all,

Victor arrived safely and the preparations for the concert in his honor and his music are in full swing. Here is the program of tonight:


Concert Friday Oct. 15th 2010, 19.30 hours in the concerthall
of the Art Center MUZERIE, Zwolle, Netherlands.



‘Victor Kioulaphides & Friends’


‘Rhapsody’ for mandolin & piano --- Victor Kioulaphides (1961)

Introduction & Rondo Capriccioso --- Camille Saint-Saens (1835-1921)
Sebastiaan de Grebber en Eva van den Dool (mand. & piano)


‘Antwerp Harbor’ for mandolin & harp (Dutch première) --- Victor Kioulaphides
Ruth Rouw en Annegreet Rouw (mand & harp)


‘Variations on a Basque Melody’ for mandolin --- Victor Kioulaphides
Ferdinand Binnendijk (mandolin)


‘Sonata Marritima’ for mandolin & guitar (Dutch première) --- Victor Kioulaphides
- Allegro assai “Storm at Sea”
- Adagio “Night at the Docks”
- Toccata “Sailors Dance”.

Capriccio Spagnuolo Op. 276 --- Carlo Munier (1860-1911)
Ferdinand Binnendijk en Saskia Spinder (mand. & guitar)



PAUZE


‘Hues of Dusk’ for Quartetto Romantico --- Victor Kioulaphides


‘Toccata Scarlattiana’ for Quartetto Classico --- Victor Kioulaphides
Pauline Ulderink, Ferdinand Binnendijk (mandolins)
Ruth Rouw (mandoliola, mandola)
en Alex Timmerman (mandoloncello, guitar)


Concert Etude No. VIII in G-majeur --- Giulio Regondi (1822-1872)

‘Mimosa’ – Preludio, Aria e Toccata for guitar (World première) --- Victor Kioulaphides
Tom Edskes (guitar)


‘Sonatina Commedia dell'arte’ for piano (World première) --- Victor Kioulaphides
- Allegro energico “L’Arlecchino”
- Larghetto grazioso “La Colombina”
- Allegro con spirito “Pas de deux”.
Eva van den Dool (piano)


---

Photo: Victor Kioulaphides

[vkioulaphides]

I have, indeed, arrived smoothly and without incident; in fact, I am currently posting from the Timmerman household, whose hospitality is wonderful beyond words. (Ha... Alex and I are both online, he upstairs, I downstairs. ] I, too, look forward to tonight's performance with enormous anticipation. More, anon.

Cheers,

Victor

ATTN: Ian (trebleclef): If you are reading this, my friend, I know you have sent me a message, but cannot quite access it, due to some pop-up blocker in this unfamiliar (to me) network. If it's not too much trouble for you, could you please contact me at my home address, namely vkioulaphides[at]earthlink[dot]net

[JEStanek]

Pop up blocker is a browser specific thing. Alex may be able to help. Have a fantastic show, HET. My thoughts are with you all.

Jamie

[Alex Timmerman]

Hi all, Here is the program of the 20th anniversary concert by Het CONSORT for Saterday:

Concert Saturday 16 October 2010, 15.00 hours in the Amstelkerk in Amsterdam, Netherlands


HET CONSORT

conducted by

Alex Timmerman


with the mandolin soloists

Sebastiaan de Grebber en Ferdinand Binnendijk


and guest of honor

Mr. Victor Kioulaphides



Danseries Ancíennes --- John Craton (1953)
Estampie – Pavane et Galliard – Basse danse et Tourdion – Carole et Bransle Gay – Piva.


Symphonie No. 23 in D majeur KV.181* --- Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
Allegro Spirituoso – Andante grazioso – Presto assai


Double Concerto in d-minor BWV 1043* --- Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
Vivace – Largo ma non tanto – Allegro
Mandolin soloists: Sebastiaan de Grebber & Ferdinand Binnendijk


Reverie de Poête --- Giuseppe Manente (1867-1941)
- in honor of Alison Stephens and her love and passion for the mandolin -


PAUSE



Romanze --- Theodor Ritter (1883-1950)
Soloist on the Liuto cantabile: Ferdinand Binnendijk


Sinfonia a Pizzico (World Première) --- Victor Kioulaphides (1961)
Overtura: Allergro brillante – Canzonetta: Andante con moto – Scherzo: Presto assai – Finale: Allegro assai


Invierno Porteño* – Oblivion* – La Muerte del Ángel* --- Astor Piazzolla (1921-1992)


*Arrangements: Alex Timmerman

[vkioulaphides]

Greetings to all from the sunny Netherlands!

Truly, words cannot describe this experience. I will have to leave further commentary to others, especially as regards my own symphony, whose performance has left me with even greater admiration for Het Consort than I already had before this event.

I will only say, or rather reiterate, what a WONDERFULLY effective work the Danseries of my dear friend and esteemed colleague John Craton really is! One could not have wished for a better curtain-raiser.

More, anon, post-jetlag.

Cheers,

Victor

[Alex Timmerman]

Hello all,

We had a very nice chamber music concert last Friday! It was really special to hear so many fine compositions in one programand so many by one composer. And from the many enthusiastic comments that we, the performers, received after the concert I think we can only be very happy with it all!

What a treat! Really, with his compositions Victor Kioulaphides has greatly enriched the repertoire of the mandolin!


Many greetings from all of us!
Sebastiaan, Eva, Ferdinand, Annegreet, Pauline, Tom, Saskia and Alex.

[Dagger Gordon]

I think congratulations are in order, particularly at the time of the tragic death of Alison Stephens, who was to have featured at the concert, so I assume that the other soloists had to work hard to replace her.

Well done all round.