Oorkaan presents her own ensemble!
Oorkaan presents its own ensemble in Podium Mozaïek
On Monday, September 27, in its 20th anniversary, Oorkaan presents its own ensemble at Podium Mozaïek in Amsterdam with four multi-talented, sparkling young musicians of international top level. A beautiful sublimation of everything Oorkaan has built up in 20 years of artistic signature and playing style. Harpist Michela Zanoni, clarinettist Michele Mazzini, bajanist Robbrecht Van Cauwenberghe and percussionist Veysel Dzhesur together form the Oorkaan Ensemble.. The ensemble's regular directors are Caecilia Thunnissen, artistic director of Oorkaan, and artistic coordinator Yorick Stam.
HURRICANE METHOD
The four members of the ensemble are trained according to the The Oorkaan method into theatrically performing musicians. They play all the music from memory, creating space for theatrical performance.
GLOBAL CLASSICAL MUSIC
The repertoire they play has a dual mission: to introduce as many small and large ears as possible to music performed live and to open up the canon with global classical music.
The Council for Culture on this ambition: "The council appreciates the strong motivation (...) to create a broad program and to free the narrow structure of music divided into different styles. The term 'global classical music' does justice to a more inclusive canon, appropriate to today's society."
For an appropriate repertoire for this authentic combination of instruments, the ensemble will work on arrangements and new compositions.
THE HURRICANE ENSEMBLE
Harpist Michela Zanoni is an exciting and engaging all-around performer. Her goal is to make classical music accessible to everyone. In her Masters at the Conservatory of Music in Amsterdam, she focuses on designing concerts for young people. Michela can dance and act and is intrigued by Latin American cultures. Read HERE further.
Clarinetist Michele Mazzini graduated cum laude in classical clarinet at the Milan Conservatory of Music and studied composition, piano and improvisation. He took the Master bass clarinet in new music, composes, teaches and is active in contemporary music. Read HERE further.
Robbrecht Van Cauwenberghe is considered one of the best young classical accordionists of his generation. He took lessons at The Hague Conservatory and at the Kunstuniversitat Graz in Austria and studied Musicology in Leuven. He plays on a Jupiter Bayan (Russian type accordion) which was specially built for him in Moscow. Read HERE further.
Veysel Dzhesur is a percussionist, studied first trumpet and later classical percussion at the Izmir Conservatory of Music in Turkey. Veysel has played in several Turkish orchestras and has a passion for Middle Eastern music. Proficient in various styles, he plays Turkish and Latin percussion instruments in addition to the classical marimba. Read HERE further.
Creator/director CAECILIA THUNNISSEN
Internationally awarded director Caecilia Thunnissen has created several semi-scenic operas with the Concertgebouw Orchestra: Joan of Arc au Bucher (2018) conducted by Stéphane Deneve, Wagners Lohengrin (2015) conducted by Sir Mark Elder, nominated as “Opera of the Year” by Place de l'Opera Magazine and Der flying Hollander (2013) conducted by Andris Nelsons. There she collaborated with the world's best opera singers such as Klaus Florian Vogt, Camilla Nylund, Anja Kampe, Christine Goerke, Claire de Chévigné, Judit Kutasi, and Christopher Ventris.Christopher Ventris.
Since 2015, Caecilia Thunnissen has been the artistic director of Oorkaan and developed the 'Oorkaan method', an internationally recognized method of creating staged concerts from music. In 2020 she won the YAMawards 2020 with Kriebel/tickle (2+), an international co-production of Oorkaan, Dutch National Opera and the Philharmonie Luxembourg. She also created Laat me met rust! (2017) the family concerts with the Netherlands Chamber Orchestra and the Concertgebouw Orchestra Muzikale Catwalk (2017), Romeo & Juliet (2018) and Tarantula en de Dans der Dieren (2018). caeciliathunnissen.com
Creator/director YORICK STAM
Yorick Stam is a director, songwriter and singer. After the directing training of the Toneelacademie Maastricht and then the prestigious Master's in Theater Singing/Singer-performer, he focuses on both music and theatre, rarely separately from each other.
His graduation directing was the opera Bluebeard's Castle by Béla Bartók. He then worked as a freelance director for various companies and festivals, such as Musica Sacra and the Gentse Feesten. He was regularly involved in Opera Spanga productions, as assistant director or stage manager. He also made several small productions under his own management, and is a regular editor for De Nieuwe Toneelbibliotheek. His own ensemble, under the name Yorick Stam, plays new Dutch-language repertoire of his hand. At Oorkaan, he focuses on the mission to allow a young audience to discover the world of global classical music through theatrical forms. yorickstam.nl
PODIUM MOZAÏEK
The Oorkaan Ensemble will be presented on September 27, 2021 at 20:00 in Stage Mosaic in Amsterdam (private), where the ensemble will regularly rehearse and play as a permanent 'house company'.
Podium Mozaïek aims to promote interaction between cultures, offer opportunities to (new) cultural entrepreneurs and stimulate intercultural forms of expression. Oorkaan and Podium Mozaiek find each other as cooperation partners in youth culture, from the strong desire to reach more children, including those with a distance to the cultural sector, with theatrical concerts.
The first production with the Oorkaan Ensemble Whoop Whoop(s) directed by Caecilia Thunnissen, will premiere on January 9, 2022 in Muziekgebouw aan 't IJ in Amsterdam.
Photography: Bart Grietens
Oorkaan is structurally subsidized by Fonds Podiumkunsten and Amsterdam Fund for the Arts.