Bart van Dongen piano/harmonium | Fie Schouten (counter)bass clarinet | Gonçalo Almeida double bass

City composer ‘s-Hertogenbosch Bart van Dongen will give a concert on November 5 with his musical companions Fie Schouten and Gonçalo Almeida. Van Dongen forms a duo with both in which composition and improvisation play an equal role. On this afternoon Van Dongen will play some of his monthly pieces. Every month a composition is placed in De Bossche Omroep and on the site of Stadscomponist ‘s-Hertogenbosch https://www.stadscomponist-sh.nl so that they are accessible to everyone. Bart van Dongen wrote a composition for double bass, bass clarinet and harmonium especially for this concert.

Fie Schouten, born and still living in Amsterdam, can be heard in many different formations on stages and festivals worldwide. She plays all clarinets, with a preference for the low instruments. http://fieschouten.nl

As a specialist in new music, she frequently performs as a soloist and in chamber music formations, including with cellists Katharina Gross, Eva van de Poll, pianist Keiko Shichijo, bass clarinetist Jelte Althuis, accordionist Marko Kassl, harpsichordist Goska Isphording and percussionist Tatiana Koleva. She also plays with improvisers, including Guus Janssen piano, Vincent Courtois cello, Giuseppe Doronzo baritone saxophone, Wilbert de Joode double bass.

Gonçalo Almeida (Lisbon, 1978) is a Portuguese musician and composer based in Rotterdam, Netherlands. His strong interdisciplinary and collaborative approach means that Gonçalo plays in a variety of projects ranging from modern jazz, free jazz, jazzcore, contemporary composed and free improvisational music. https://gonzobass.wixsite.com/gonzoalmeida

He is the founder/composer/bassist of Hydra Ensemble, Lama Trio, Albatre, The Attic and member of Spinifex, Tetterapadequ, The Selva, Roji, Almeida/Duynhoven/Klein trio, Tabula Sonorum.

Gonçalo Almeida also frequently collaborates with audiovisual artists, modern dancers, poets and theater makers, such as Arnold Dreyblatt, Julyen Hamilton, Rita Vilhena, Ricardo Jacinto, Pierre Bastien, among others. Since 2001 he has toured internationally within several of these projects, in Europe, the US, India and Japan.

Bart van Dongen – Doesn’t rule anything out, doesn’t reject anything

Bart van Dongen (1959), composer, musician and conceptual artist, won the biennial Brewery Culture Prize for the city of ‘s-Hertogenbosch in 2007. From the jury report: ‘A constant in his work is that composition, improvisation and concept are always a trinity.[…] The action on the spot therefore forms an important part of his art.’ Bart van Dongen is the initiator of various projects, which all have one thing in common: a search for new music or at least new sounds. He excludes nothing and rejects nothing; he knows how to connect and encourage seemingly opposing forces.

Bart van Dongen is the city composer of ‘s-Hertogenbosch until September 2024, in which context Van Dongen is involved in various musical activities in the city. With double bassist Gonçalo Almeida he is developing TABULA SONORUM ORGANUM, a work for a quadraphonically amplified double bass and church organ. The performance Eldorado – which is under his musical direction – will be reprized at the end of May and the beginning of June in Friesland and with VLEK he will be the house ensemble of W2 de Toonzaal this season.