Sunday, February 9, 2025 @ 3:00pm – 4:15pm (EST)
National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, United States
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Free (RSVP required)

Samuel BarberExcursions, Op. 20 (arr. Jelte Althuis)
Florence PricePiano Sonata in E minor ("II. Andante"; arr. Jelte Althuis)
Henriëtte BosmansString Quartet (arr. Raaf Hekkema)
Cole Porter"Just One of Those Things" from Jubilee (arr. Oliver Boekhoorn)
George GershwinRhapsody in Blue (arr. Raaf Hekkema)

Enjoy a concert by the Calefax Reed Quintet with music that brings together classical and pop. For 35 years, the group has earned international acclaim for their virtuosic playing, brilliant arrangements, and novel staging.

As innovators of this new ensemble genre, featuring oboe, clarinet, saxophone, bass clarinet, and bassoon, Calefax takes an adventurous approach to programming. Its varied repertoire includes new commissions and member-created arrangements, covering music from the past and today. As a result of countless international tours and collaborations with all kinds of musicians, its performances reflect the influences of world music, jazz, and improvisation.

This program highlights the richness and diversity of American music.

Program subject to change.

About Oliver Boekhoorn, oboe

Oboist Oliver Boekhoorn studied at the Royal Conservatory of The Hague and the Conservatorium van Amsterdam. He is a member of Cobla Amsterdam and regularly performs with the larger orchestras and ensembles in the Netherlands.

https://www.youtube.com/user/olliehobo

About Bart de Kater, clarinet

Clarinetist Bart de Kater earned bachelor's and master's degrees with honors from the Conservatorium van Amsterdam, where he is now on the woodwind faculty, and founded the Nieuw Amsterdams Klarinet Kwartet. He has taught at the Royal Conservatory of The Hague and is currently a member of the Netherlands Wind Ensemble.

https://www.conservatoriumvanamsterdam.nl/en/study/studying-at-the-cva/faculty/classical-music/bart-de-kater/

About Raaf Hekkema, saxophone

Saxophonist and composer Raaf Hekkema is a soloist and teacher at the Royal Conservatoire in The Hague. His many composition projects include his arrangement and recording of Paganini's 24 caprices for solo violin, for which he was named instrumentalist of the year by the German ECHO Klassik in 2007. He has been a member of the Dutch Akademie van Kunsten since 2020.

https://www.raafhekkema.com/

About Jelte Althuis, bass clarinet

Jelte Althuis studied clarinet and bass clarinet at the Sweelinck Conservatory. Since joining the Calefax Reed Quintet in 1994, he has specialized on the bass clarinet and basset horn, and has served as the group's music arranger. He plays regularly for the larger orchestras in the Netherlands.

https://jeltealthuis.com/home_en/

About Alban Wesly, bassoon

Bassoonist Alban Wesly is cofounder of the Calefax Reed Quintet and one of its music arrangers. He studied music at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam and the Royal Conservatory of The Hague and has been awarded the Kolfschoten prize. Wesly has collaborated with such well-known composers as Gijsbrecht Royé, Karlheinz Stockhausen, and Heinz Holliger, and has performed with MusikFabrik. He teaches bassoon and chamber music at the Royal Conservatory of The Hague.

https://www.wesly.eu/

National Gallery of Art

Constitution Ave. NW
Washington, DC 20565
United States

https://www.nga.gov/