More about Chris
I was taken by my father to rehearsals of his local drum band from the time I could walk. From the age of seven, the small drum was my instrument. A few years later the percussion ensemble "Excelsior Gemert" was founded in which melodic percussion instruments were also present. There was a vibraphone, a xylophone and a little later a marimba. From this percussion ensemble I learned to play many different percussion instruments during my high school years. Including my current favorite: the timpani!
1998
Classical percussion at the conservatory in Rotterdam and Amsterdam with teachers Robert van Sice, Randy Max, Willem Heesen, Nick Woud, Jan Pustjens. Also studied Hafa conducting at the Rotterdam conservatory with teachers Jos van der Sijde, Arie van Beek, Maria Kuster and Jaap Koops....
Beethoven, Brahms, Dvorák, Ravel, Debussy, Shostakovich, Rachmaninov, Stravinsky ... I actually can't choose!
What do I like to listen to?
I love listening to Brahms First Symphony, among others; it just has "the best ending ever! Shostakovich's Fifteenth has airy, frivolous passages interspersed with dark, deep layers and a unique ending for percussion/pauks. I never get tired of Ravel's Piano Concerto in G, especially the second movement. And Stravinsky's Le Sacre du Printemps is simply revolutionary. What a piece! Youth sentiment is for La Fiesta by the American jazz pianist and composer Chick Corea, who died in early 2021; I played it very often myself. And finally, I choose In the Stone by the American band Earth, Wind and Fire: that makes me happy!