Each year, North Sea Jazz commissions a promising Dutch jazz composer to freely write a composition. In 2016, the honor goes to clarinetist and composer Joris Roelofs.

Joris Roelofs (1984) graduated at the Amsterdam Conservatory and ever since he has been playing all over the world. In 2003, he was the first non-American to win the Stan Getz/Clifford Brown Fellowship Award. Together with his quartet with Aaron Goldberg, Joe Sanders and Greg Hutchinson, he received an Edison Award for the album Live at the Bimhuis in 2012.

Roelofs is inspired by composers such as Stravinsky and Debussy. He unites classical and jazz music in his composition assignment. It will include powerful and dynamic melodies and space for improvisation. This performance at the Bimhuis will precede the official premiere at the North Sea Jazz Festival on July 8.

The Composition assignment is commissioned in collaboration with the Fund for the Performing Arts. The jury motivates its decision to award Joris Roelofs the Composition Assignment as follows: “Joris Roelofs stands out with his distinctive and unique sound. The variations in his pieces create a contemporary, genuine and mature sound. The listener is taken into a new world in an organic way.”

The Bimhuis restaurant is open prior to the concert from 6.30 till 8.30PM (reservations via 020-7882158). After the concert, the Bimhuis Café is open (free entrance).

Listen to this concert via LIVE STREAM BIMHUIS RADIO. Click the Bimhuis Radio link below on the evening of the concert:

Light-Footed Music for All and None
PRE PREMIERE IN BIMHUIS (1 SET – NO intermission)
Joris Roelofs klarinet/basklarinet, Bram van Sambeek fagot, Harmen Fraanje piano, Clemens van der Feen bas, Martijn Vink drums