CALEFAX RIETKWINTET
Period
1985 - current
Genre
basklarinet, classical, contemporary classical music, fagot, hobo, klarinet, saxofoon
Online
Calefax Rietkwintet
The Calefax Reed Quintet plays classical and contemporary music with a “pop mentality”. The musicians normally stand while performing and play by heart. The ensemble, which celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2010, established the concept of the reed quintet. Its repertoire expands continuously with the addition of new compositions and ...
Instruments
basklarinet, fagot, hobo, klarinet, saxofoon
Members
Oliver Boekhoorn
hobo
Ivar Berix
klarinet
Raaf Hekkema
saxofoon
Jelte Althuis
basklarinet
Alban Wesly
fagot
Former members
Lucas van Helsdingen
altsaxofoon, basklarinet
Eduard Wesly
hobo
Mentioned in the biography of
1985
Willem Van Manen
1993
Irene Maessen
1997
Ron Ford
2002
Oene van Geel
2003
Maarten Ornstein
2005
Will Eisma
Biography Calefax Rietkwintet
The Calefax Reed Quintet plays classical and contemporary music with a “pop mentality”. The musicians normally stand while performing and play by heart. The ensemble, which celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2010, established the concept of the reed quintet. Its repertoire expands continuously with the addition of new compositions and arrangements of classical works. The Calefax Reed Quintet gives some 80 concerts annually, and, by now internationally acclaimed, has a large following.
1985
For the 100th anniversary of the Barlaeus school in Amsterdam, Willem van Manen writes an opera, and four boys in the student orchestra – Raaf Hekkema and Lucas van Helsdingen (both alto saxophone), Alban Wesly (bassoon) en Eduard Wesly (oboe) – who have formed a wind quartet ask Van Manen to write a piece for them. Van Manen adds a clarinet to the ensemble and writes the 'Barlaeus Wind Quintet'. The piece is premiered on November 21, with the German teacher, Geert Kapteijns, playing the clarinet part. The ensemble calls itself Calefax, the name being a word Hekkema had seen since his childhood written on a warehouse on Bickers Island in Amsterdam.
1987
The clarinettist Ivar Berix joins the ensemble, completing the formation.
1992
Channel Classics releases the reed esemble's first CD, with Ton ter Doest's 'Circus Music', a work originally for wind quintet, featuring prominently. Ter Doest replaces one of the saxophones with a bass clarinet, played by Lucas van Helsdingen. The formation of oboe, clarinet, saxophone, bass clarinet and bassoon works so well that the ensemble decides to build on it.
1994 - 1995
Lucas van Helsdingen, more a saxophonist than bass clarinettist, leaves the ensemble and is replaced by Jelte Althuis. The German label MDG offers Calefax a contract for eight CDs, the first of which, with music by Claude Debussy and Maurice Ravel, attracts international attention.
1997
Eduard Wesly leaves the ensemble and is replaced by Oliver Boekhoorn. Calefax receives the Philip Morris Arts Award and uses a portion of the prize money to commission Wesly to arrange some of Dmitri Shostakovich's 'Preludes' and 'Fugues'.
2000 - 2001
A CD of Bach's 'The Art of the Fugue', arranged by Raaf Hekkema, is released. It is one of the most talked about CDs of the year, the 250th anniversary of the composer's death. In 2001, the ensemble wins the Kersjes van de Groenekan Prize, awarded to exceptional talents in Dutch chamber music.
2005
Calefax wins the first VSCD Classical Music Award for the best achievement in chamber music in the previous season. Some of the prize money is used to further professionalize the ensemble. Calefax releases a first live CD with the jazz bassist Tony Overwater, a recording of their performance of the 'Ellington Suites' at the North Sea Jazz Festival. On October 1, the ensemble performs before international programme makers at the Chamber Music Meeting.
2006
As a consequence of the Chamber Music Meeting, Calefax makes its first concert tour in the United States, and its relations in other countries greatly increase. Many of the ensemble's arrangements are made available internationally with the Calefax Edition publications.
2008
Calefax makes its debut at London's Wigmore Hall and is greeted by Adam Gatehouse, editor of Live Music on BBC 3, as “one of the most exciting ensembles to have come my way”.
2009
After years of work, the ensemble completes a transcription of some of Conlon Nancarrow's 'Studies for Player Piano'. This extremely complicated music is released on CD; the recording, incidentally, marks the years of the ensemble's collaboration with the pianist Ivo Janssen, who also plays on the CD. Calefax – reinforced by Janssen, the percussionist Arnold Marinissen, pianist Michiel Braam, and organist Geert Bierling – subsequently performs in Japan, the United States, Germany, Spain and England. It holds its first Encore Competition for reed quintets, now an annual event. The winner is Heleen Verleur with her composition Across. To deal with the increased activity, Calefax takes on Liesbeth Kok as manager. Together with Speeltheater Holland, the ensemble makes the children's production Amerika America.
2010
Calefax celebrates its 25th anniversary. It is a guest on the TV talkshow 'De Wereld Draait Door' [The World Keeps Turning], and the weekly magazine Vrij Nederland refers to it as “classical music's boy band”.
Discography Calefax Rietkwintet
Albums | Singles | Compilations | Other | Guestperformance
Circusmuziek
Act | Calefax Rietkwintet |
Type and year | CD, 1993 |
Label | Canal Grande, CG 9321 |
Debussy - Ravel
Act | Calefax Rietkwintet |
Type and year | CD, 1995 |
Label | MDG, 61906582 |
Serenades
Act | Calefax Rietkwintet |
Type and year | CD, 1997 |
Label | MDG, 619 0770-2 |
William Byrd - Arvo Pärt
Act | Calefax Rietkwintet |
Type and year | CD, 1997 |
Label | MDG, 619 0745-2 |
600 Years Calefax 1985-2000 - Music from six centuries from Ockeghem to ter Doest
Act | Calefax Rietkwintet |
Type and year | CD, 2000 |
Label | MD+G Scene, MDG 61910432 |
Die Kunst der Fuge (BWV.1080)
Act | Calefax Rietkwintet |
Type and year | CD, 2000 |
Label | MD+G Scene, MDG 61909892 |
Preludia en fuga's
Act | Calefax Rietkwintet |
Type and year | CD, 2003 |
Label | MD+G Scene, MDG 61911852 |
Ellington suites
Act | Calefax Rietkwintet |
Type and year | CD, 2006 |
Label | Jazz In Motion, JIM 75219 |
Nouvelles suites
Act | Calefax Rietkwintet |
Type and year | CD, 2006 |
Label | MD+G Scene, MDG 61913742 |
Studies for player piano
Act | Calefax Rietkwintet |
Type and year | CD, 2009 |
Label | MD+G Scene, MDG 61915482 |
Libro de glosas
Act | Calefax Rietkwintet |
Type and year | CD, 2010 |
Label | Calefax, 2009 |
De muziekfabriek
Act | Calefax Rietkwintet |
Type and year | CD, 2011 |
Label | Calefax, 2010 |
Goldberg variations
Act | Calefax Rietkwintet |
Type and year | CD, 2012 |
Label | Rioja Records, RR 1201 |
Walden wald
Act | Calefax Rietkwintet |
Type and year | CD, 2013 |
Label | Winter & Winter, 910203 |
The roaring twenties
Act | Calefax Rietkwintet |
Type and year | CD, 2014 |
Label | Challenge Classics |
gastmuzikant | Cora Burggraaf |
In the discography you will find all recordings that have been released listed chronologically. We restrict ourselves to the title, the type of audio, year of publication or recording, label, list of guest musicians, plus any comments on the issue.
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