A New Season with the New Ensemble
“De Derde Helft” is the name of a series of inspiring concerts where classical music meets jazz and Electronics. Refined classically trained musicians, who have acquired national and international fame, come to Groningen to bring an amazing concert in Vera. On stage, they meet young talented artists, musicians and composers from the Northern part of the Netherlands.
Last year the combination of Vera and modern music proved to be very successful. Attending musicians enjoyed the informal ambience and put up a great performance. Who said classical music is old-fashioned and boring?
New Ensemble
The New Ensemble consists of some 12 musicians who play instruments such as mandolin, guitar, harp and percussion. In 1997, the ensemble won the “Prins Bernard Fonds Muziekprijs” for their ‘distinct, adventurous and playful programming that can be described as mind-broadening’. The New Ensemble cooperated in numerous successful music theatre productions and performed in China many times.
Program
Before the break the New Ensemble will play a Sephardic (Spanish) song. They will also play an energetic piece by composer Claude Debussy, who once said: “I am trying to do ‘something different’ which is called ‘impressionism’ by imbeciles.”
The piece ‘Quote … Unquote’ will be performed after the break. This piece is composed by Klaas ten Holt, who is a very successful performer and composer. He worked together with Junkie XL, and the Metropole Orchestra performs his music. In ‘Quote … Unquote’, Klaas ten Holt put lyrics from literary magnanimities such as Strindberg, Poesjkin, Alfred Jarry, De Cervantes and Shakespeare to music.
Finally, a series of magnificent folk songs and traditional songs by Luciano Berio will be performed. He experienced with various sorts of music. He wrote chamber music for large orchestra’s and soloists, as well as electronic music. All sorts of folk music and the usage of musical and literary quotes are typical for his work, as can be heard during the Folksongs with which the New Ensemble will conclude her concert.
So: this is definitely a concert worth attending!