An excellent review (Dutch only) in Luister of Mellema and Van Klaveren's Cd, DUO's, available in the webshop. 'But above all are the interpretative and musical qualities of Mellema and Van Klaveren'

Ties Mellema will be teaching saxophone at the Conservatory of Arnhem for the rest of the season to replace Nicole Schillings.

The ASQ in Vrije Geluiden, VPRO national television, 4 December, 11:00, NL3

On November 17th and 18th Ties Mellema recorded the largest part of his new solo cd. On November 30th he will record the last part in the Hervormde Kerk in Rhoon, the Netherlands. Release is planned for spring 2006.

Tuesday, November 29, 2005 Tuesdaymorning, working on the computer, pc

Tuesday, November 29, 2005

Tuesdaymorning, working on the computer, pc. It still works like shit. Ivo offered to install win2000 on my computer this weekend. Let's see. It might be hardware also.
Today studying, maybe running in the park and going to Ikea to get some money back for my other matrass.

 

Monday, November 28, 2005

Mondaynight and watching tv. I just watched Katja vs Bridget. Fun programme! I put the Bridget banner on my site :-)
Ailed's brother is here now, he came back from London to maybe study composition again here in Amsterdam. To be honest, I hope he will. He's a great composer! He wrote a wonderfull melody for me for baritone sax solo one time.
Ailed's still in Venezuela, in the Gran Savana as we speak. Dancing in small towns there. Sounds very good.
I will do my last recording day for the solo cd this wednesday. I will reocrd Balafon, which is very hard. I hope I will have enough time... we'll see...

Tuesday, November 22, 2005

I just brought Ailed to the airport and I wanted to go to sleep a bit more but I turned out to be writing some emails to see if I could program Ian Wilson's new proposition for us somewhere. Ian is one of the best composers I know nowadays. His works are magical and I would really like to have his new piece. But we have to find funding....

Sunday, November 20, 2005

I haven't written in this blog for two weeks now. I have been busy with my solo cd recording. Thrusday and Friday I recorded this CD, but unfortunately I haven't finished it. In 10 days I will do the rest. It's an interesting programma and quite unconventional: three works by Jacob ter Veldhuis with tape (it was so much work to record these!!), Glass, Lauba and Turnage. I still have work on the Laube and the Melodies by Glass. Then I finished the recording. Then we'll see what happens.
Ailed will leave to Veneuzela for two weeks in Tuesday, to dance with her group. She got some money from the Netherlands embassy. Very exciting! This afternoon I will see her try out.

Friday, November 04, 2005

In between practicing. A bit bored. Ailed is out and Dick just if I wanted to go for a drink at some bar near the Dam. I don't think I'll go. I want to be rested tomorrow... Tomorrow I would like to see if I could go out to buy a matrass at Ikea.
But I also need to schedule a rehearsal with Wijnand... many things, like always...
I need hollidays again :-)

Done with 4tet rehearsal and at home now. Sending some cd's to newspapers and what not.

Still haven't found a solution for a new bed yet. I fixed with the help of my parents the 'lattenbodem' I have now, but not quite well enough.... I shou;d buy a new matrass and fix the 'latenbodem' better.... plenty to do!!!

Tuesday, November 01, 2005

The CD presentation is out of my head now and the 'normal' rhythm is more or less back. I am studying now for my solo cd with works by Ter Veldhuis, Glass, Lauba and Turnage. I just decided to plan the recording. I have been postponing the recording for a year now because there's never enough time. But studying has been going smooth. Let's see what happens. Next week I will have a rehearsal with Ter Veldhuis. I am recording three of his pieces.

Something else. Yesterday PRDV presented itself to the 'audience'. And to be honest, I really liked de Vries.... I am not sure yet, maybe there's more to it than I think now... but I was quite enthousiastic...!

The ASQ released their new CD "1 Gram of Time" in the Muziekgebouw aan 't IJ. You can order the CD through www.amstel4tet.nl or here. On the CD are works by Dufourt, Kerger, Twaalfhoven, Simons, Xenakis, Donatoni, Wilson and Keuris....

Saturday, October 29, 2005 Yesterday concert in Vaals with the quartet...

Saturday, October 29, 2005

Yesterday concert in Vaals with the quartet and we did great. I had a very good feeling about this concert. We had nothing to lose, because the day before we had the presentation of our new CD 1 Gram of Time in the Muziekgebouw in Amsterdam. Lots of people came and we had to refuse some people because it was just too full!
Now I am going to help some friends of mine move...

Monday, October 24, 2005

Monday today and bored... I am at home with the flue. Friday I had a concert and afterwards I really collapsed... Saturday it got worse and today I feel a bit better.
I will study a bit of baritone today. I have a Mark VI here which I want to try for some weeks. I am looking for a new instrument but I'm having trouble finding one...

Thursday, October 20, 2005

Just about to go the first quartet rehearsal after some weeks. I am a bit ill (cold) and this morning I rehearsed with the Radio Chamber a piece Steve Mackey.
I just finished listening to my first audiobook: The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Very witty and very original. Now I'll have to see the movie!

Monday, October 17, 2005

My good friend Ivo is in NY. He wrote this:
"
Ik ben een Atlas Cafe, mooi cafe in Williamsburgh, Brooklyn. De Doors klinken uit de speakers, zondagmiddag. Gisteren een erg mooi concert gezien van Elysian Fields in Tonic in de Lower East Side, maar ik ben verder meestal in Brooklyn. Het dansstuk "Badman" van Luis Lara Malvacias waar ik muziek voor componeer begint vorm te krijgen, het ziet er goed uit. De choreograaf is erg druk en gestresst dat wel, er is nauwelijks tijd om met de muziek te werken. Ik realiseer me hoe verwend we zijn in NL, ondanks bezuinigingen etc. Er is hier eigenlijk geen of nauwelijks een infrastructuur voor beginnende en "mid-carreer" kunstenaars. Maar goed, het optreden is in een zeer bekend danstheater in St, Marks Church vlakbij de Bowery. Ik was in bespreking met een theater (DTW) om in de toekomst een LiSa workshop te geven hier, het zag er veelbelovend uit maar helaas het gaat niet door. Mensen zijn hier niet geneigd risico te nemen, er is gewoon te weinig geld (alhoewel mijn plan heel erg solide en aantrekkelijk was natuurlijk).

Ik heb een erg mooi concert gegeven in de Project Room met Missy Mazoli, Red Wierenga en James Hirschfield, een soort hele gevoelige kraakgeluiden sound, jammer dat je er niet bij was. Ga je volgende keer mee? De project Room is trouwens een erg mooie plek met bijzondere optredens. Acteur Steve Buscemi zal volgende maandag voordragen uit vertaalde scripts van Theo van Gogh, hij gaat namelijk twee films van Van Gogh opnieuw verfilmen!

Het gaat hier nog steeds erg slecht voor Bush, er is een rare stemming in het land en er gebeurt van alles. Irak is nu echt een Molensteen, begint toch op Vietnam te lijken."

Friday, October 14, 2005

the new Amstel CD is almost ready. We've been editing for two days and we listened to the third edit today and there are still several things that should be better but overall it's our best CD untill now I think. Let's see what the audience and the critics think.
Presentation is 29 October in the Muziekgebouw (I alreadu announced this several times in this blog I think).

Sunday, October 09, 2005

Saturday night in Luxembourg. We did three concerts in the Casino Museum for the Museum night there. Great fun. We scared people away with Xenakis two times :-) and for the last concert we played a more accessible programma. I think it was a success. We had great fun and the audience was nice! Tomorrow we'll drive back. I want to be home. Olivier will be in Japan, so no quartet rehearsals, so some time to study for myself. For my solo cd recording in November!

Saturday, October 08, 2005

In Luxemburg with the quartet now. Tomorrow concert in Casino, a museum during the museum night. Kerger, July (Torke), Xenakis, Korvits.
This morning we picked the final version of the cd cover for one gram of time. Very nice!
Be there: 27 October CD Presentation in the Muziekgebouw aan 't IJ: 1 Gram of Time.

Wednesday, October 05, 2005

We picked up the draft for the the new Amstel Cover two days ago. It looks really cool! I am really happy with it. It connects with the concept of the CD. Go and check it out everyone, 27 October in de Muziekgebouw aan 't IJ.
Yesterday I went to the movies with Thomas, mr and mrs Smith. A lot of fun! It's really nice to have some time free to do relax and meet friends. Thomas played in the Concertgebouw with Wijnand Friday. It was a magical evening. All Schubert and it was great. They really took care of every note.
Today some sports and studying, then e reception at the Embassy of Venezuela in The Hague.
In November I will record my solo CD. Three works by ter Veldhuis, two by Glass, one by Lauba, and one by Turnage. All nice contemporary music. I've played a bit too much avant-garde the past year. I want to play melodies and harmonies that appeal to the heart, so to say... :-)

Saturday, October 01, 2005

I have my Powerbook back!!! It works ok, I lost some data (they wanted to charge me for putting back data, but in the end Apple took financial responsibility and paid. They destroyed my Powerbook and they wanted me (!) to pay, very very strange), but everything is back I think.... Don't buy Apple from retailers, but from certified Apple dealers, if you must! The service sucks big time..! Nobody takes responsibility, unless you spend hours discussing.... Unbelievable!
Now it's Saturday night and I am relaxing, repairing the pc, which was broken too, yes and watching some tv. I should go to bed early, but it's nice to sit around the house and just doing really nothing!

Tuesday, September 27, 2005 Again on the phone with Apple Care

Tuesday, September 27, 2005

Again on the phone with Apple Care. They want to charge me 42,50 because they had to transfer my data and this is not covered by Apple Care. I can't believe it! They messed up my computer! It was fine before I bought their faulty product! I lost my laptop for two weeks and now they want to charge me money? I should get money from them for messing up my work!!!! I think I will, let's how they react.... This phone number costs 10cts/min. too...I should declare that money anyway....

Monday, September 26, 2005

A day off, Finally!!! I am working at home now, doing some stuff I should've done in the past weeks, administration etc... In the afternoon I will do some studying and then cooking for Ailed and me.

Oh, do not buy MAC!!!!! Well, at least if you like good service... If you own Apple products, do not buy Apple Care, at least not for a laptop, the service is bad and the diagnostic CD ruins the computer and you just might lose all of your hard drive data, like me. They will work on it from tomorrow but they already had the computer for a week and they didn't work on it.

Unbelievable!!!

Friday, September 23, 2005

At a friend's place now (marijn&Justyna), I haven't seen him for a long time. They have a kid now: Simon. I saw him for the first time!
Tonight the last 'pictures' with Jarvi. Still exciting, hav en't found a decent reed yet!

Monday, September 19, 2005

Pictures at an exhibiton, always a very exciting solo to play. This time with the Residentie Orchestra, during their first week with their new Chef, Neeme Jarvi. Everybody was very excited because he never conducted the orchestra before. I liked him a lot. Tomorrow the first concert and today I am unexpetedly free. I was supposed to have rehearsal but no I can sleep and relax. I need it. We had a busy week with Dogtroep performances in Enschede and at the same time Residentie Orchestra with a wonderfull by Turnage. What a shame he never wrote for sax4tet!

Saturday, September 17, 2005

came back from a concert with residentie orchestra. we played turnageL silet cities, beautiful music. The only thing was, I went of stage to early after it was finished, I thougth the applaus was more or less done and I saw people starting to move so I just walked off. Hm...

I found articles on the internet that say not to use the APple Care sofwatre with tiger, it messes up your harddrive, like this one: I don't know if I was the last person on earth to hear about this but here it goes.
I just received my new DP 2.7 on Friday. This thing is crazy. 2.5 GB RAM, 800 GB HD, 20" Cinema Display. I completed my first video project on it and was pleased with performance. Decided to install TechTool Deluxe that comes on the AppleCare CD that I received with my new beauty. I ran the diagnostics and it said that the volume structure needed repaired. So I let it do its thing and it hosed my drive.
I searched the discussion boards and found out that it is not compatible with Tiger and it should not be used. THEN WHY IS APPLE SENDING OUT THESE DISKS? I lost 40 hours worth of work and some of my faith in Apple. I still love them but come on, $4500 and i get a piece of software that will tank my HD. I liken it to buying a car and them giving me free oil that is actually water.
You need to warn all your listeners. DO NOT USE TECHTOOL DELUXE THAT COMES WITH APPLECARE!!!!!!!

sorry for not writing for a week. I've been busy. Right now in the middle of Dogtroep performances, which are a lot of fun! If you can, check us out still tomorrow (Sunday) at the building of the Nationale Reisopera in Enschede. It's magical...!

Another thing:
Apple must die, don't buy Apple, Apple sucks!!!!!! Just so you know...!!!!!!!! Don't buy Apple care, the service is bad, the helpdesk is 10cts/min and you need 30 minutes at least for bigger problems. My computer broke down after running the diagnostic tool that came with apple care. It was fine before I ran it (well, there were some minor issues, I thougth it couldn't hurt). My iPod also broke down yesterday. I should get a new one. It'll be my 3rd!
Haven't heard bad stories about Apple, just my luck I guess. Other than that. I actually liked Apple a lot. But the service is not so good. It might not give as many problems as Windows (I've had no problems with my pc stuff, and lots with my Apple... BTW!), but when you have problems, they'll give you a hard time.

Saturday, September 10, 2005

Just came back from Dogtroep rehearsal in Enschede. It's gonna be an exciting show I think: www.enschedemuziekfestvial.nl, but it might just be sold out completely. I am not sure.
Tonight relaxnight, watching movies, sleeping early!
With the quartet we tried some Buescher saxophones today in the Deventer Saxofoonhuis. I think we're on the right track! In the end we'll have a quartet with all very nice sounding horns: we are going to buy new instruments with the quartet, all Bueschers, early ones that is (1930's, lates 20's)! And we're gona try to find the right music for these instruments. Very exciting stuff!

Friday, September 09, 2005

I am watching the NPS now, an interview with Louis van Dijk and Ramses Shaffy. Especially Louis van Dijk is one of my idols! He's a fantastic person and musician, one of my examples of how to be a musician and how to fit this in my life. He always touches me.
With Wijnand I play one of his original compositions, which was written for him and Jaap van Zweden. We transcribed it (well, Wijnand did!) for soprano sax and piano and form August 2005 we performed it several times. For us it's a tribute. We want to perform this piece ('Burjazzque') at the Robeco Zomerconcerten in July 2006.
BTW, I can't believe vd Laan wants to stop NPS! It's almost the only public network I watch!

Yesterday night 'night of the unexpected'! At Paradiso. It was great. We played ok, it was hard to play there, also because almost everyone was amplified and we were not. I think it was a success. There were a lot of people who seemed to enjoy themselves. After we were finished I had the oppurtunity the listen to Joel Ryan and Evan Parker. Which I liked, although I thought it was a shame that I couldn't here the saxophone sound of Evan Parker; it was send through a computer and changed. Let's see if there are some reviews!

Tuesday, September 06, 2005

Ailed will be back tomorrow. She should arrive at 11:15. Can't wait! I hope her plane arrives in time and she gets on the plane from Madrid. I couldn't last time! We don't have much time together, I have a photoshoot with my quartet in the afternoon for two hours. But the rest of the day we have together. Finally!

Sunday, September 04, 2005

Sunday now, I cleaned up in the house so Ailed can come back in a clean house. Although I didn't clean so much yet, I just created some order. There were lots of piles of paper, and more stuff that needed organizing. Now I feel a bit more organised myself too :-)
Today I had concert with Residentie Orchestra, 3 movements of Romeo and Julia by Prokoviev. Good stuff, still, although I play it several times a year! I did ok today. Very hot, I would've loved to go somewhere outside, but hey, I chose to be a musician. Tomorrow 4tet rehearsal, then with Wijnand, a meeting to talk so someone about the spending of our big award that we won last year and teaching and then impro's with Ivo. Full program. Too much actually! I should watch out for too much stress because this weekend I really didn't feel too well. Tonight is better. I had some time for myself.
Yesterday Dogtroep rehearsal, with their new director, Henk Schut. He's great, we really love him. (www.enschedemuziekfestival.nl and www.dogtroep.nl and www.amstel4tet.nl)

Friday, September 02, 2005

A few days later (Friday) and a bit less tired. I slept all afternoon yesterday and I feel better now. Today quartet rehearsal, an opening of an expo by our photographer (Jamain Brigitha), rehearsal with Wijnand and a party for Jurgen at his place. Enough to do! Tomorrow rehearsal in The Hague (Prokoviev, Romeo and Julia).
Now watching a Bob Ross workshop on tv! Check him out, he's fantastic!

back from the tour to Los Llanos (the Venezuelan planes) and the Andes

back from the tour to Los Llanos (the Venezuelan planes) and the Andes. An unforgettable experience. I don´t have so much time to write right now, but I will give a quick impression:
a 4 day tour, first day:
We left for a rafting camp on the border of the Andes and Los Llanos (Barinas). Very long bus ride with stopping on the way. a.o. a very nice small stone church (I will try to include some pictures next time in this blog...) and of course an unforgettable view from the bus in the Andes!!
The rafting was great, I never did it before and we had great time. We spend our first night in the rafting camp and it was very relaxed. This day should havebeen the last day in the original tour but now it was the first day because of some logistic reasons. The last days were very hectic. But today was great. We walked around, saw lots of birds (The Llanos has about 1300 kinds of birds!) and had a great meal with, of course, beef, grilled very well!

Second day:
We left at 700 in the morning for the Apure river, the little village San Vicente. On the way was Petroglyphs (spelling?) , symbols and pictures made in stone from pre Columbian times, nobody knows exactly when. On the road we had a very good beef lunch (can´t see beef anymore!) in a little camp beside the road where some heavy winds appeared and blew a lot of sand in our food. For a moment I thought it was going to be a hurricane, with Dennis just having left the area. In San Vicente we did a boat trip in the late afternoon and evening and saw leguanas, snakes, lots of very exotic birds (a.o. a living fossile, a very old bird that looks very strange) and the highlight: sweet water dolphines. Grey pinkish big dolphins that swam besides the boat. Unbelievable!

Next time I´ll write about the 3rd and 4th days.

Today in Merida and tomorrow of to a 4 day tour to los Llanos

Today in Merida and tomorrow of to a 4 day tour to los Llanos. We´ll raft, sleep in hammocks, see all sorts of animals... very exciting, we´re a bit nervous!
Yesterday we went to an amusementpark called Sambil with Ailed´s family. They had a lot of fun. I bought pants for the trip tomorrow and in the evening we left to Merida for a twelve hour bus trip in the coldest bus of all times!!! Next time I´ll bring a hat, some sweaters, gloves, a scarve. I used Ailed´s skirt as a scarve! The outside temperature was perfect...!

Today in Merida was great. We arrived (after a minimum of sleep because of the cold) and walked to our posada and then we were off to tabay, natural hot water in the mountains. It was quite surreal. We walked in the moutains in a very nice surrounding and after half an hour we heard loud salsa music. It urned the hot springs were changed into a swimming pool with natural sauna and a little kiosk to buy drinks. It was quite busy but we had great time. We relaxed and walked back to Merida to have a briefing for the trip tomorrow.

After we had a great dinner in a new vegetarian restaurant in Merida, I think it was avenida 3 or 4, owned by Deyanira. She was very friendly and made us feel very welcome. I ate 2 and half empanadas filled with lentils and cheese served with a very tasty sauce. Recommended!

More in 4 days!

Tonight we are off to Meridad for a 4 day tour through the Venezuela w...

Tonight we are off to Meridad for a 4 day tour through the Venezuela wild! Afterwards we will stay in Meridad a bit to walk around and see the surroundings, and enjoy our holiday together.
This morning we are relaxing, reading, watching tv, enjoying Venezuelan home cooking.
Yesterday we went to the East Park and a hacienda which is a museum now. Caracas is not really a city with a great athmosphere but if you know the spots there's plenty of stuff to do.

Yesterday I went to a concert in the Teresa Carrenho in Caracas

Yesterday I went to a concert in the Teresa Carrenho in Caracas. The Municipal Orchestra played and they played well. They played the marvellous Daphnis and Chloe suite by Ravel, which Rodolfo Saglimbeni conducted by heart!
But... the concert turned out to have a policital part; after the first piece (Mendelsohn Concerto for violin, played by Maurice Hasson, incredible!) there were several speeches, a videoshow and a formal part to inaugurate the new stamps to celebrate the 25 years existence of the orchestra. The stamps are very nice but half of the audience left and the ones that didn't showed their disconfort with the ceremony very clearly. It was quite an experience!

Second day in Caracas

Second day in Caracas. All's well and relaxing. Just had a shave and a haircut, which was nice!
Tonight or tomorrow we might go see a concert. Tomorrow is the National Youth Orchestra of Venezuela, lead by Gustavo Dudamel. I played a solo concerto by Jacob ter Veldhuis with them some months with them. They are fantastic!
This morning Ailed danced one of her solos in the beautiful Teatro Municipal in the old colonial centre. A beautiful theater and a beautiful solo. It's a shame the old centre is not such a good neighbourhood.

The pain in my shoulder has almost disppeared

The pain in my shoulder has almost disppeared! I am studying again and just had rehearsal with Wijnand for the Vondelpark Concert again. We had lots of fun putting this programme together.
Tomorrow will be a busy day, I will have to go to Kerkrade to rehearse for the premier of a saxophone concerto by Alexander Comitas. We will perform it at the WMC. The day after we will play the concert (wednesday 20 July). If you want to check it out: it's in the Rodahal in Kerkrade, during the WMC. I will be accompanied by the NJFO (National Youth Fanfare Orchestra, conducted by Danny Oosterman, www.njbe.nl).
Today I called with active 24, my website will be online sometime tomorrow. I hope so!

Sunday, July 17, 2005

Just had a rehearsal with my good friend Wijnand (piano). We rehearsed a new piece in our repertory: 'Burjazzque' by Louis van Dijk, in a version for soprano saxophone and piano. What a wonderful music! Louis van Dijk is not so well know as a composer but this piece shows he should be. We'll play it in the Vondelpark Open Lucht Theater in Amsterdam on July 21st at 21:00, for those who want to hear it. We will also play music by Michael Nyman, Bach, Demersseman, Wiedoeft, ter Veldhuis and Matitia. The wheather forecast is not too good though, according to the KNMI, but they have proven they can be wrong, I hope that they will be again!

Still lots of pain and eating pain killers, which work ok, but it's still there.
Tomorrow is Sunday and I think I won't be able at the soccer competition in the Amsterdamse Bos, but I will cheer!

Saturday, July 16, 2005

Today I woke up with an incredible pain in my shoulder. I wanted to study sax but now I have to wait for the pain to go away... Well, a forced 'holiday', I can do some reading, listening to music. I am listening to Michel Camilo and Tomatito right now. Great album! What a shame I missed them at the North Sea Jazz Festival.
For some reason my website is offline now, and I have no idea why. The Active24 helpdesk is only available on weekdays so I'll have to wait to find out. Very strange...

Friday, July 15, 2005

Electronic Music

Yesterday I went to Paradiso to see and hear a festival with electronic music, a crossover between dance music and 'art' music. It was quite interesting, but hard to listen to. Intuitively I am not drawn towards electronic music and I have to go through some effort to listen to it but it's a challenge to get to know this music and to learn to appreciate it.

Ties Mellema will record his new solo CD on November 17th and 18th 2005. Works by Ter Veldhuis, Turnage, Lauba and Glass. Release is planned for spring 2006.

NEW: The AMM Electro Acoustic Sessions PODCAST: copy/paste this link into your podgrabber/iTunes (download iTunes here): http://feeds.feedburner.com/AMMelectro

Vrij Nederland, a national opinion magazine, writes about the CD "DUOS for Saxophone and Piano": "a wonderful CD", "Lots of virtuosity and flexibilty". (obtainable throug the webshop, Amstel Records)

Recent Amstel Saxophone Quartet prizes: Second prize at the 34th Gaudeamus Interpreters competition; The adult jury and youth jury first prizes at the 14th International Chamber Music Competition in France, Illzach on 13 March 2003

Read the interview that Selmer the Netherlands had with Ties Mellema in their magazine 2004/2005 here. (check 'press' for this article)

The Amstel Saxophone Quartet released their third CD: 'Baltica' on January 15th in Amsterdam, in the Bethanienklooster for a full house! Visit the ASQ website or click here to order this CD.

The Amstel Saxophone Quartet won the famous Kersjes van de Groenekan award, which consists of E50.000,- to be spend on further development of the quartet. The award ceremony is postponed to March 2005 due to the passing away of Anton Kersjes.