Kees Boeke

Kees Boeke was born in Amsterdam. After studying at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague (recorder with Frans Brüggen and cello with Anner Bijlsma), where he graduated with honors, he co-founded the ensemble Quadro Hotteterre (1968–1988) with Walter van Hauwe. For many years, he was a member of the medieval and Renaissance music ensemble Syntagma Musicum (Kees Otten) and a co-founder of Sour Cream (1972), Little Consort Amsterdam (1978), and the ensemble Mala Punica (1989). In 2001, he founded the medieval ensemble Tetraktys.

In 1970, Kees Boeke began teaching at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague and, in 1975, at the Sweelinck Conservatory in Amsterdam. Beginning in 1990, he taught recorder and early music at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Zurich and at the University of Music in Trossingen. From 2006 to 2014, he was a professor of medieval and Renaissance music at the Institute for Early Music in Trossingen.

He has given seminars and master classes in recorder and early music all over the world, including at the Deller Academy (Lacoste, France, 1972–1982), the Corsi Internazionali di Musica Antica (Urbino, Italy, from 1975 to 1982), and the Vancouver Early Music Festival. He served as artistic director of the Settimana Musicale di Pitigliano (1982–1986) and the San Floriano International Early Music Courses (Polcenigo, Italy, 1983–1993). In the 1990s, he collaborated with the Accademia Musicale Chigiana in Siena, for which he produced Ludovico da Viadana’s monumental Vesper (Psalmi a 4 Cori / Psalms for Four Choirs, 1612) in 1994. More recently (2016), he launched the summer course Settimana Musicale del Trecento (http://www.settimanamusicaledeltrecento.it) in the city of Arezzo, Tuscany, which specializes in 14th-century music.

In 1996, Kees Boeke began working as the musical director of the ensemble Cantica Symphonia, with which he recorded motets by Costanzo Festa and masses by Guillaume Dufay. He was invited as a guest conductor by the vocal and instrumental ensemble “L’Homme Armé” in Florence and by the ensemble Ars Nova Copenhagen for concerts in the Netherlands, Belgium, and Denmark. Over the years, he has produced concerts and recordings with the Hilliard Ensemble featuring works by Heinrich Isaac, Orlando di Lasso, and Philippe de Monte. He has also collaborated regularly with Philippe Pierlot’s Ricercar Consort and Roberto Gini’s Concerto delle Viole.

In addition, Kees Boeke is active as a composer (Donemus, Amsterdam; Sheetmusicnow.com) and publisher of early and contemporary music (Zen-On, Tokyo; Schott, London). He has recently published a new complete edition of the famous Codex Modena in collaboration with Jos Haring (see Olive Music Editions (http://www.modenacodex.com)).

He has lived in Tuscany since 1980 and produces CDs (http://www.o-livemusic.com) and extra virgin olive oil.

Walter van Hauwe

Walter van Hauwe demonstrated his love for traditional recorder repertoire not only as a soloist but also as a member of the ensemble “Quadro Hotteterre” (1969), alongside Kees Boeke (recorder), Bob van Asperen (harpsichord), and Wouter Möller (cello), as well as the ensemble “Little Consort,” featuring, among others, Toyohiko Satoh (lute).

His affinity for contemporary music, which was already evident in the experimental recorder ensemble “Sour Cream” (with Frans Brüggen and Kees Boeke), founded in 1970, grew significantly throughout the 1980s. More and more composers, such as Franco Donatoni and Isang Yun, began writing for the recorder, inspired by him.

Thanks to a brief but intense collaboration with the Japanese marimba player Keiko Abe and later with the “Maarten Altena Ensemble” (specializing in contemporary, improvised music with strong experimental jazz influences), Van Hauwe had the opportunity to further develop his interest in improvised music. His interest in theater led to various productions with the well-known theater groups ‘Hollandia‘ and ‘Veenfabriek.‘

Walter van Hauwe has been a professor at the Sweelinck Conservatory in Amsterdam since 1972. He wrote a three-volume method specifically for recorder instructors and professional students, ‘The Modern Recorder Player‘, published by Schott London, which has since been translated into several languages. In 1989, Van Hauwe initiated the creation of a comprehensive catalog of contemporary recorder music, the ‘Catalogue for Contemporary Blockflute Music‘ © (www.blokfluit.org). In it, one can trace nearly all original recorder literature spanning five centuries.

In 2002, Walter van Hauwe received the prestigious Dutch ‘Prins Bernard Music Award‘ for his entire body of work.

Recordings are available on Telefunken (‘Das Alte Werk‘), Vanguard, Columbia-Denon, RCA, CBS, and, most recently, on ‘Attacca‘ and Moeck Verlag/Channel Classic.

Further information about Walter van Hauwe can be found on his website, www.waltervanhauwe.org.