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Event
Calefax Reed Quintet
The highly accomplished Calefax Reed Quintet begins its 2010 US tour with a concert in the Occidental Community Church on May 1st. Having played over 600 concerts in 20 countries, Dutch reed quintet, Calefax, is well known for its virtuoso performances, innovative programming and engaging concerts. The quintet performs standing up, and always introduces itself and the programme to the audience. Most importantly, the five musicians arrange, recompose and interpret music from eight centuries to suit their unique line-up: from early music, renaissance, baroque, and romantic works to jazz, or world premiÂres. For the Redwoods Arts Council concert, the quintet will play their arrangements of Mozart's Serenade in C, Debussy's Children's Corner and Jean-Philippe Rameau's Le Rappel des Oiseaux. So forget what you know about a traditional "wind" quintet, Calefax are a "reed" quintet and totally unique!
The quintet traces its origins back to 1985 at an Amsterdam grammar school. As part of the events celebrating the school's 100th anniversary, four boys in the school orchestra asked composer Willem van Manen to write a piece for them. To their surprise, he did with a fifth part added for clarinet. The piece, Barlaeus Blaaskwintet, was premiered on 21 November 1985, an event now marked as the official birth of Calefax.
The Quintet's name was provided by the saxophonist Raaf Hekkema. As a youth, he lived on one of Amsterdam's three 'western isles'. The isles are peaceful and quiet with old storehouses inhabited by artists. Everyday Raaf rode his bicycle over the Bickerseiland to school passing a dingy, dusty building with the word ÂÂCALEFAXÂÂ inscribed over its entrance. Years later, Raaf remembered the word when the quintet was searching for a name for itself. It seemed to fit and they began appearing as Calefax. One summer evening, the group was relaxing in a cafe after a concert and spotted a plate with the letters "CALEFAX N. V. Amsterdam-Rotterdam'. An old man enveloped in a mist of cigar smoke was sitting under the plate: "Calefax? Now they knew how to build ship motors, those were first-class welders! When the Calefax boys, man, say they had hot ovens going, when they poked the fire, that was the hottest place in town." Yes, the name does fit!
Oliver Boekhoorn plays the oboe. He trained at The Hague and Amsterdam conservatories. Besides Calefax, he is a regular in the principal ensembles and orchestras of the Netherlands. In his spare time, he flies paragliders over the Dutch coastal dunes. Ivar Berix plays the clarinet. Besides Calefax, he plays chamber music in various groups and appears with major orchestras of the Netherlands. Jette Althuis plays the clarinet and bassclarinet. He received his training at the Sweelinck Conservatory in Amsterdam and joined Calefax in 1994. He is now one of its most active arrangers. He also appears with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra and the Radio Chamber Orchestra. Raaf Hekkema plays the saxophone and has arranged about half of the quintet's repertoire. He has appeared with the Nieuw Ensemble, the Brabant Orchestra, the North Holland Philharmonic Orchestra, the Beethoven Academy (Belgium) and the Orchestre de Chambre de la Gironde (France). Raaf likes near-impossible projects such as arranging Paganini's second violin concerto for saxophone which he premiered in 2002 with the Noord Nederlands Orkest. Alban Wesly plays bassoon and is the co-founder and an arranger for the quintet. His musical training was at the conservatories of Amsterdam and the Hague. He also is a member of the German ensemble MusikFabrik and appears with the principal Dutch ensembles and orchestras.
This concert is the grand finale of the 2009/2010 30th Redwood Arts Council Season. You can expect musical fireworks from these personable, talented musicians. It takes place in the intimate, acoustically superb Occidental Community Church at Second and Church in Occidental at 8:00 P.M. on May 1. Tickets may be purchased at Handgoods in Occidental and through brownpapertickets.com. Call the Redwood Arts Council (707) 874-1124 for individual tickets or to reserve your 2010/2011 season membership. If available, tickets may be purchased at the concert. Prices are $25.00 for general admission, and $10.00 for full-time students with ID. Members receive $2 discounts. Infants and very young children will not be admitted. For further information, visit redwoodarts.org.
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LocationOccidental Community Church
3637 Church St.
Occidental, CA 95465
United States
Categories
| Minimum Age: 12 |
| Kid Friendly: No |
| Dog Friendly: No |
| Non-Smoking: No |
| Wheelchair Accessible: No |
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