Amstel Quartet

Remco Jak, soprano saxophone      
Olivier Sliepen, alto saxophone
Bas Apswoude, tenor saxophone     
Ties Mellema, baritone saxophone

http://www.amstelquartet.nl

2006 CAG Competition Winner

“The men of the Amstel have no fear,” exclaimed the Dutch press about The Amstel Quartet, winner of the 2006 Concert Artists Guild International Competition. Its performances are riveting, filled with high energy, emotion and infectious dynamism. Its repertoire incorporates traditional works for saxophone quartet, contemporary compositions and interdisciplinary collaborations with dance, musical theatre and video.

Highlights for the 2007-08 season include appearances at the Downtown NYC River to River Festival, Ravinia Rising Stars series in Chicago, the Clark Arts Institute (MA), Quick Center for the Arts at St. Bonaventure University (NY), Lancaster Performing Arts Center (CA) and on CAG’s chamber music series at Long Island’s Patchogue Theatre and the Brooklyn Public Library.

The Quartet’s US debut tour in spring 2007 included performances at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall and on the Oath Concert for Darfur at the Angel Orensanz Foundation. As part of CAG’s New Music/New Places initiative, the Quartet appeared in a special collaboration with video and dance at Monkeytown and on the Barbes Classical series at Barbes Bar and Performance Space, both in Brooklyn.

The repertoire of the Amstel Quartet is original and inventive. From the mystery of Bach’s Second Cello Suite in D to Michael Nyman’s music for the film The Piano, the four saxophonists unleash a palpable collective energy and gain fans with each performance. Composers, too, such as György Ligeti, Philip Glass, Michael Nyman and Arvo Pärt, have nothing but praise for the ingenious adaptations written by members of the Quartet.

In addition to its recent victory at the CAG Competition, the ensemble garnered top prizes at the International Chamber Music Competition in Illzach, France, the Netherland’s Gaudeamus Interpreters Competition and Ohio’s Chamber Music in Yellow Springs Competition. The Amstel Quartet has been heard in venues around the world including the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, the Vredenburg in the Utrecht, Sogukado Hall in Tokyo, Japan, the Stadtkirche in Darmstadt and toured Ireland, Luxembourg, Belgium and the Czech Republic.

To date, the Amstel Quartet has released four CDs. Of Straight Lines, the ensemble’s successful debut CD, one critic correctly claimed that the disc “reflects the versatility of the saxophone quartet and how the instruments’ rich sound lends itself so successfully to various musical genres.”