For everyone interested in new classical music.

Listen -

…to the second movement of my piano trio ‘De tout mon coeur’. It is based on a devout early sixteenth century song, ‘Ic wil mi gaen vertroosten’. Written for the trio that performs it here, the Atlantic Trio. A complete recording is here, with a look at the score.

A New Golden Age?

I quite agree that in many ways we live in Classical Music’s New Golden Age, in spite of the Fatal X and an apparent lack of great composers…

Who is he?

Willem Wander van Nieuwkerk is a Dutch composer of new classical music that in its lyricism and rhythmic vitality makes the 21st century resonate in the musical traditions of the 19th. Born in Amsterdam in 1955 of Indonesian-Dutch parents, he started as an improvising musician and only took to written composition while studying musicology at the University of Utrecht. Although he became a specialist in Modern Classical music, his work is marked by the expressive lyricism and formal richness of the Classical-Romantic tradition, while at the same time comprising Pop and Early Music idioms.

He has a mixed background in classic piano, jazz and percussion, and at first worked with self-styled ensembles that combined popmusic and popmusicians with classical players and classical forms. His strong interest in Early Music resulted in a number of pieces for Early Music ensembles that succesfully apply the sound quality of Early Music to Africa-derived rhythms and a contemporary, highly melodious and polyphonic idiom.

In his recent works for classical chamber music ensembles the extremes of contemporary vernaculars, World Music and Early Music meet. Often taking historical melodies as a starting point, these works combine contemporary rhythms and expression with the polyphony, ensemble playing and lyricism of Classical-romantic forms.

Van Nieuwkerk is a lecturer in 20th century Music History and New Music at the Conservatory of Amsterdam. He is married and has two children.

There is a more extended bio here.

Download: audiophile mp3’s

• My Trio for violin, clarinet and piano, wonderfully played by the Bartók Trio, recorded using BINAURAL’s superior dummyhead technique in the acoustically remarkable chapel of the Cenakel in Soesterberg: the complete movements 2 (Nocturne – 3,85MB) and 3 (Jeu-parti – 4,46MB).

About this site

This is a personal site that offers you

… a catalogue
to listen to my music and view sample scores —

… a news section
about first performances, new recordings, upcoming projects —

… a few texts
that I wrote for publication - like my discussion of Adlingtons book on Louis Andriessen (translations will appear gradually this year) —

… some personal texts
that I wrote just for myself.

It is a work in continuous progress — so…

• …I welcome your comments — in the several sections or through the contactpage.

• …I highly appreciate any remarks you might have on editorial matters, navigation, design and readability. While this site was carefully designed according to W3C webstandards and should operate on all browsers we like to hear about any apparent misbehaviour on your browser.

Many people warmheartedly contributed to this site, financially and with their musical friendship. I thank them all, hoping my music may return some of this warmth to them.