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!