The Right Way

For this member concert, I have invited a very special ensemble. The Dudok Quartet Amsterdam has invited me and the other musicians to the third edition of their own festival, the Dudok Muziekdagen in Kampen (May 28–31). On May 21, we will present a preview together.

The program brings together very different works:
Philip Glass’s Façades was originally written for the film Koyaanisqatsi, but eventually ended up on the album Glassworks. Its long, flowing melodic lines over a softly pulsing foundation have a certain introspective quality that differs from Glass’s more rhythmically driven music.

Sofia Gubaidulina’s Duo Sonata (1977) is of an entirely different order: quarter tones, multiphonics, and two voices that can move within completely different senses of time. Gubaidulina was an outsider throughout her life in the Soviet music world. Her teacher Shostakovich advised her to remain on her “wrong path,” and she did. She passed away in March 2025.

Then there is Shostakovich’s String Quartet No. 8, perhaps the most popular quartet of the twentieth century, filled with self-quotations and dedicated to the victims of fascism and war, yet equally compelling as a deeply personal document.

In addition, I will perform a solo set with electronics, presenting my latest compositions influenced by techno, jazz, minimalism, and classical music.

The musicians:
Jesse Faber (clarinet) is a core member of the Nieuw Amsterdams Klarinet Kwartet and the Netherlands Wind Ensemble, and performed at Carnegie Hall at the age of eighteen with Jon Batiste’s trio. Bram van Sambeek (bassoon) received the Dutch Music Prize in 2009—the only bassoonist in the award’s thirty-year history—and has since developed a solo career ranging from early Baroque to heavy metal. The Dudok Quartet Amsterdam performs on major stages such as the Concertgebouw, Wigmore Hall, and the BBC Proms, while also organizing its own festival in Kampen, where you can hear Shostakovich’s String Quartets Nos. 3, 5, and 8 spread over three days.

Dudok Quartet Amsterdam:
Judith van Driel - violin
Marleen Wester - violin
Marie-Louise de Jong - viola
David Faber - cello
&
Jesse Faber - clarinet
Bram van Sambeek - bassoon
Ties Mellema - saxophones, electronics

Photo Jesse Faber: Eduardus Lee

Member concert
Splendor can only be the independent and free hub that it is, thanks to the members who support us. We pay them back with our specialty: music. Every year, all Splendor musicians play one concert that's free for this crucial group to whom Splendor owes its everyday existence. Combined with many other events, this means that our members have free entrance to over 50 concerts a year for €9,99 p/m (and €4,99 p/m for minima and students!) – and receive a discount for all other concerts. Pretty good deal, right?

The members enable Splendor to remain independent, which is the only way to secure real freedom in programming, experimentation, risk-taking and the promotion of young, upcoming artists. If you can think of another place without a central programming, where last-minute concerts can be planned any moment, where there is no backstage and artists and audience are constantly mingling and hanging out at the bar, where mysterious creative outbursts can be presented that are often labeled 'too risky' elsewhere, and that still guarantees high quality by unleashing the best of The Netherlands' music scene in this creative playground – you get a free membership!

Would you rather just visit this concert without becoming a member? You're more than welcome! Buy your ticket(s) below.