In the music of Misha Mengelberg, swing, European music and Dadaism come together with a fascination for the animal kingdom. This portrait by ICP Orchestra and Nieuw Amsterdams Peil – a sum total of 16 top musicians – also includes kindred spirits such as Igor Stravinsky, John Cage, Duke Ellington, Thelonious Monk and (father) Karel Mengelberg.

Misha Mngelberg became known in the early 1960s as a unique free improvising jazz pianist, as a forward-thinking composer and as an artist of the infamous Fluxus movement. Under the banner Instant Composers Pool he founded a group of brass and string players, together with the exceptional percussionist Han Bennink. The ensemble Nieuw Amsterdams Peil, founded in 2005, plays a broad chamber music and music theatre repertory in a flexible line-up.

ICP ORCHESTRA: Guus Janssen piano, Michael Moore clarinet/alto saxophone, Ab Baars, Tobias Delius clarinet/tenor saxophone, Wolter Wierbos trombone, Thomas Heberer cornet, Tristan Honsinger cello, Mary Oliver violin/viola, Ernst Glerum bass, Han Bennink drums.

NIEUW AMSTERDAMS PEIL: Gerard Bouwhuis piano, Heleen Hulst violin, Dorian Cooke bassoon, Mick Stirling cello, Patricio Wang guitar, Bart de Vrees percussion