Here is a list of a few of the ensembles where Bas plays more or
less regularly, some having websites of their own, some not.
Arte dei Suonatori
Bas has been member of this
Polish orchestra since 2002. Since his
first project in November 2002, when they played Bach violin concertos with Ryo
Terakado, this orchestra has become more and more important in Bas' musical
life. The special atmosphere, the unsurpassed musical dedication and the constant
high level of playing always creates a special experience. Arte dei Suonatori
was established around ten years ago by a group of Polish musicians. They had
the idea that instead of going abroad to join western European musicians they
could invite those musicians to come and play in Poland. They started off
with the "Endless Festival Early Music Persona Grata", every project they
invite another persona grata, who is always a influential musician in the
field of early music, may it be instrumentalist, vocalist or conductor. In the
meantime the list of guests has become sheer endless and the orchestra has
created their own specific sound, which is incomparable with any other baroque
orchestra in Western Europe. Besides Persona Grata Arte organises yearly early
music festivals in Wroclaw, Poznan and the beautiful baroque seminar Paradyz,
just across the border with Germany, near Frankfurt. Arte dei Suonatori's visits
to other
countries have become more and more frequent and they have made succesful
cd-recordings for labels such as Channel Classics, BIS and
Alpha.
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Trio Van Bruggen-Van Hengel-Veenhoff After
years of playing together in different settings, in 2002 Bas van Hengel,
Nicole van Bruggen-Harris, clarinet and Anneke Veenhoff, fortepiano decided to
form a trio. Their first performances during the International Van Wassenaer
Competition were very succesful and were rewarded with the third prize of
the jury and the public's prize. In their repertoire special attention is given
to the lesser known classical and early romantic composers such as Anton Eberl,
whose chamber music was recorded in 2005 for the young Belgian/German label
Ramée. But works by Beethoven are also part
of the program. The quest for forgotten composers and compositions continues...
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Ensemble Phoebus Amsterdam
This Baroque ensemble was formed in 1997 during the studies of the members at
the Sweelinck Conservatorium Amsterdam by Bas van Hengel, Tilman Gey,
harpsichord and Jobst Harders, transverse flute. They were joined later by the
Japanese violinist Makoto Akatsu. The repertoire of Phoebus is mainly late
baroque German solo sonatas and trio sonatas by J.S. Bach and C.P.E. Bach and
Telemann, but also the French repertoire - d'Anglebert, Leclair and Couperin -
appears regularly on the programs.
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The Northern Consort
After
having moved to Groningen Bas intensified his contacts with violinist Hanneke Wierenga and
oboist Vincent van Ballegooijen. With their ensemble The
Northern Consort they started a monthly concert series in which they invite
guests every time. All different musical styles are being played, the constant
is the application of original instruments, be it baroque, romantic or modern.
They always try to make a connection between different art forms, such as
literature, poetry, theatre, history and painting. Guests so far have been
(among others): Thomas Rosenboom, Philip Freriks, Beno Hofman, Peter de
Groot, Paul Komen, het Egidius Kwartet,
Marc Pantus e.v.a.
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Ensemble La Clementina
In 1999 Makoto Akatsu and Bas van Hengel decided to form an ensemble with which
they wanted to perform the great, warm blooded and inspiring music by Luigi Boccherini.
The basic setting of La Clementina is a string quartet, but it can be expanded
to octet or reduced to duet acoording to the program desired. Main concern are
the quartets and quintets of Boccherini, his beautiful Stabat Mater for soprano
and string quintet is a major repertoire piece. Also later repetoire of the early
romantics (for example Luigi Cherubini) and of major classical composers such as
Mozart, Beethoven and Haydn are played regularly.
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Barokensemble De Swaen is one of the most remarkable ensembles that has been
established during the last decade in the early Music scene in Holland. Since a
few years De Swaen has been performing a monthly Bach Cantata in the Lutheran
Church at the Amsterdam Spui. Along with the cantata there's always a
composition by one of Bach's predecessors or contemporaries from the Northern
German Baroque period. These performances are characterised by thorough
musicological research, the use of instruments and temperaments that are as close
as possible to those in Bach's time. Moreover all music is performed ovpp,
one voice per part, meaning that both instrumentalists and vocalists are
soloists on their part. This uncompromising approach, combined with an
unsurpassed enthousiasm makes it a sheer joy to play with De Swaen from time to
time.
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