Webstrings: Remy van Kesteren on life & harp
NJO Artist in Residence 2011
Remy has been invited to be the NJO Artist in Residence for the 2011 Muziekzomer (Summer of Music). He will have the freedom to create different projects with lots of great music, musicians and composers (such as ’11 Composer in Residence Kaija Saariaho). Be the first to read all about it on this website, later this year.
This weekend, Remy will also play during the 2010 Muziekzomer. You can listen to him and the NJO Schubert Orchestra in Debussy’s beautiful Danses Sacrée et Profane, performed throughout the province of Gelderland. See the agenda for all the dates.
New website
New season, renewed website. Enjoy!
Debussy in 2009
Remy van Kesteren plays C. Debussy’s Danse Sacree et Profane with the Utrecht Conservatorium String Orchestra led by Chris Duindam:
Pierne in Israel
Remy’s encore in the Israel finals, G. Pierne’s Impromptu-Caprice op. 9:
Video blog #4
Matthijs van Nieuwkerk roept 5 minuten voor uitzending van DWDD op tot een duel tussen Remy en 7 drummers…
En het gedicht van Nico Dijkshoorn na afloop:
VERKEERDE INSTRUMENT
nog maar net binnen
zie ik backstage
het wonder van de
vervoering
de kracht van de
muziek
terwijl glenn helder
zijn mond
in twee minuten
34 jaar
gierende
ritmische
aanvalsdrift
over de tafel spuugt
zie ik uit mijn ooghoeken
een jongen
gepassioneerd
zijn harp strelen
ik herinner mij
terstond
de doodsangst van mijn vader
als nico maar niet op ballet gaat
en geen harp gaat spelen
pappa je zat er naast
ik heb medelijden
met de zeven mietjes met drumstokjes
hier vlak tegenover mij
die zo te horen
het verkeerde instrument
hebben gekozen
Video blog #3
Remy live in De Wereld Draait Door over het Internationaal Harp Concours & Festival in Utrecht:
Video blog #2
International Harp Competition & Festival from Balanslab on Vimeo.
Plans for 2010
2010 is underway, and busy times lay ahead. In two months, the International Harp Competition & Festival of the Netherlands will take place. Preparations are going very well and soon everyone will be able to buy tickets for all the events! I look forward to hearing some of the worlds best harpists, combined with the Netherlands’ finest musicians, playing wonderful music, all in my home town Utrecht! And I can not wait to see if our innovative ideas to create a new sort of Competition will indeed prove to be a success.
Another project for 2010 is to do my Bachelor exam. For the past months, after Israel, I have been thinking a lot about… what’s next? Since for two years, I was basically practising whatever the various competitions required me to, after this huge project I experienced a sort of freedom which was both very liberating and also a little bit confrontational. Because: what do I want? What direction do I want to take, and what sort of music/attitude/life fits to this new direction? Unfortunately, I can not yet provide you with these answers, but I do see the advantages of this contrast with my scheduled, focussed life. Goals are great to get you to a high level, but they can easily prevent you from being open and honest to yourself and your raison d’être as a musician (I am trying to learn French…).
Something else I am thinking about is redecorating this place. Together with an art director I am thinking about ways to get a better, matching look for this website, scheduled to be launched somewhere in March. Also, I want to finally make my first CD, something I have been pondering for a long time now. But in order to do this, obviously I will have to sort out the questions above!
As for 2009; it was a great year. I accomplished my goal and participated in some of the worlds greatest competitions for harp (a status they soon will have to share with the Dutch contest 
). 2010 will definitely mean some away time from them (I might get seriously addicted), but there are a lot of exciting things to come. I’ll keep you posted!
Young Music Talent 2009
Yesterday, Remy van Kesteren won the final of the Foundation for Young Music Talent of the Netherlands, and was awarded the title: Young Music Talent 2009. The second prize was for cellist Anton Spronk. The third prize went to violist Dana Zemtsov.
The first prize is a scholarship of EUR 5.000,-
Berlin
Last weekend I went to Berlin with my two brothers, to celebrate the birthday of the youngest. It was my second time in the German capital, and it was great. There is a lot to discover in this major city. The diversity in architecture throughout the city clearly shows the remains of the old wall separation. Plattenbau reminds of the old eastern bloc ambitions, while the Potzdammer Platz, one of my favorite squares in Europe, is the most visible symbol of the new Berlin.
Berlin was obviously designed to be bigger; its spacious streets are longing for public. But this extra space provides many remote areas where the students and artists live their liberal lifestyles. This results in a great night-life, with countless of festivities organized in the most unpredictable places: remote apartments, the 11th floor of a building, and abandoned factories house some of the worlds greatest, unending parties.
Before we went back home on Sunday, quite knackered after a long night, we went to the very impressive Jewish Museum. The museum is designed as a lightning flash by Daniel Libeskind, and covers two millenia of German Jewish History. It made a very big impression. On the way back home we happened to share our plane with Dutch novelist Joost Zwagerman, who is mostly known for his television performances. Zwagerman is always very keen on advocating decency, but this time he apparently was in too big a rush to apply some courtesy of his own. And so he roughly pushed aside my brother in order to be the first to wait for the luggage (which arrived twenty minutes later). Well, anyway, it was a fantastic weekend! But now back to work, because Saturday 28 & Sunday 29 November I will play the Debussy Dances.