Peter Adriaansz was born in Seattle in 1966 and
studied composition at the conservatories of The Hague and Rotterdam, where his teachers
included Louis Andriessen, Brian Ferneyhough and Peter-Jan Wagemans.
Characterized frequently as 'one of the most singular composers active in the Netherlands at the
moment' Adriaansz has worked as a free-lance composer since 1993, receiving commissions and
performances from ensembles, Festivals and individual musicians from all over the world, as well
as writing for ensembles with more unusual instrumentations for special occasions. His works are
performed and broadcast regularly worldwide and have featured on many stages, from the Holland
Festival to Huddersfield and from Tashkent to Toronto.
Adriaansz' work can be characterized by a systematic, research-oriented approach towards music.
An approach in which sound, structure, harmony and audible mathematics constitute the main
ingredients. Starting in 2005 an interest in flexibility, variable forms and - especially -
microtonal reflection gradually became predominant in his work. This latter interest lead, among
other works, to several large-scale compositions for amplified ensembles, such as Prana
(2007), Music for Sines, Percussion, ebows & variable Ensemble (2008) and Three
Vertical Swells (2010), works for orchestra and voices
(Anekabahudaravaktranetram, 2007, Verdichtingen, 2009), two extended series,
on spatial harmony (Structures I-XVI, 2005) and micro acoustics (Waves 1-13,
2008) and many (electro-) acoustic works for incidental commissions, with detailed sinewave
patches as a constant feature.
In recent years his work has focussed largely on expanding the world of
microtonal reflection with an increased interest in speech and the role of context.
In the words of Bob Gilmore: 'If music can be a medium in which to explore the most profound
existential questions, as the medieval scholars believed it could, then each generation must
rephrase these questions to make them relevant to their own time. Few contemporary composers
have delved so fearlessly into this realm as has Peter Adriaansz. His work is abstract music of
a high order, reanimating the mediaeval idea of music as applied number: but the questions it
asks are defiantly of the twenty-first century, questions about musical perception, about the
nature of sound and the passage of time'.
Several of his works were nominated for various prizes, such as Chant Ascendant, for
the 1994 International Gaudeamus Composers Competition and Waves 5-7,
Verdichtingen and Three Studies on Elevation; selected in 2009, 2010 and 2011
respectively for the Dutch Toonzetters Award. In 2015 his work Scala II was awarded the
Matthijs Vermeulen Prize.
In 2010 his solo CD Waves, recorded by Ensemble Klang, was released to much national as
well as international press acclaim. This was followed by several other releases on labels such
as Unsounds and Ergodos and most recently (2021) by the release of one of his largest works to
date, Environments, on the Klang label.
Adriaansz teaches composition at the Royal Conservatory of The Hague.
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Photo by Alex-Schröder
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My profile at Deuss Music
Environments, interview Aad van
Nieuwkerk, Vrije
Geluiden (Dutch)
Listen to a sound excerpt on SoundCloud.
Interview Joep
Christenhusz NRC, April 2021
Muziek als
Objectieve Waarheid 1-6 (rev. 2011)
Zes korte essays over 'muzikale waarheid', in de vorm van een vraaggesprek met Anthony
Fiumara
Gereviseerde versie 2011
Music
as Objective
Truth 1-6 (rev. 2011)
Six short essays on 'Musical Truth', in the form of an interview with Anthony Fiumara
Revised version 2011
Interview Vito
Camaretta for
Chaindlk (2012)
Published St. Petersburg, 2003. ISBN 5-93356-033-2)
Timbres, Fall
2015
Video
interview with Maarten Altena (Double Music)
Notes to
Environments
+ Q & A (2021)
Bob
Gilmore - Waves
(2009)
How I became a
Convert: on the
use of microtonality, tuning & overtone systems in my recent work (2008/2009)
(Publication Stichting Huygens-Fokker, Journal 31, 2009. ISSN 1877-6949)
Manifest voor een nieuw
Kunstbegrip
An attempt by four composers to educate a burgeoning neoliberal state into the possible
meaning and
function of Art; and reclaim the language. Peter Adriaansz, Maarten Altena, Rozalie Hirs &
Samuel Vriezen
(2011)
English
All and Beyond,
the music of
Peter Adriaansz and Piet-Jan van Rossum
(publication by November Music and MCN Holland for November Music 2010, written and edited by
Anthony
Fiumara.
ISBN: 978-90-76937-31-1)
Alles voorbij,
de muziek van
Peter Adriaansz en Piet-Jan van Rossum
(uitgave November Music en MCN voor November Music 2010, geschreven en geredigeerd door Anthony
Fiumara.
ISBN: 978-90-76937-30-4)
November 8-17 (date tbd), November Music, s’ Hertogenbosch, NL
Ralph van Raat, La Chute (No 69)
November 5 2024, Seoul, Korea, Ensemble SORI, 9 through 99 (No 20b)
September 23 2024, 20:00 Crossroads Lublin, Peowiaków 12, Lublin, Poland
Konstantyn Napolov & Orkest de Ereprijs, Chaser (No 67)
September 22 2024, 19:15 Warsaw Autumn Festival, Warsaw Philharmonic, Warsaw Poland
Konstantyn Napolov & Orkest de Ereprijs, Chaser (No 67)
August 27 2024, Noorderzon Festival, Groningen, NL
Ensemble Klang, Environments (No 61)
May 23 2024, 20:15 Muziekgebouw aan ’t IJ, Amsterdam, NL
Ralph van Raat, La Chute (No 69)
premiere
May 20 2024, CCM, Kiev, Ukraine
Michel Marang, Signals (pt 1) (No 57)
May 5 2024, Long Play Festival - Bang on a Can, Brooklyn, New York, USA
Ensemble Klang, Environments (No 61)
March 22 2024, 20:00 A4 Art Center, Chengdu, China
Michel Marang, Signals (pt 1) (No 57)
March 9 2024, 20:00 Shenyang Library, Hangzhou, China
Michel Marang, Signals (pt 1) (No 57)
March 6 2024, 20:00 Theater Keepitquiet, Shanghai, China
Michel Marang, Signals (pt 1) (No 57)
October 13 2023 , 19:30 Centro di Ricerca Musicale, Teatro San Leonardo, Bologna Italy
Scordatura Ensemble, Enclosures (No 41)
October 2 2023, 20:00 Musis Sacrum, Arnhem NL
Konstantyn Napolov & Orkest de Ereprijs, Chaser (No 67)
September 26 2023, 18:30 La Muse en Circuit, Alfortville, France
Ensemble Klang, Waves 5-7 (No 37)
September 9 2023, 20:25 Gaudeamus Music Festival, Tivoli/Vredenburg Hertz, Utrecht NL
Konstantyn Napolov & Orkest de Ereprijs, Chaser (No 67)
Environments (rescheduled concerts 2021; extra dates/locations tba)
October 7 2022 Korzo, Den Haag
October 6 2022 Muziekgebouw aan ’t IJ, Amsterdam
September 24 2022 De Doelen, Rotterdam
13/14 Feb 2022, Earport Duisburg, Katharina Gross + Arnold Marinissen, Horizon (No 51)
11 Nov 2021, 19:00 Soundplasma Festival, Talinn, Estonia
Scordatura Ensemble, Enclosures (No
41)
more information
27 Aug 2021, Festival Les Inattendues, 18:00, La cour de l’Éveche, Tournai,
Belgium
Ensemble Klang, Environments (No 61)
more information
1 Jul 2021, Minimal Music Festival, 17:00, 18:00, 19:00 Muziekgebouw aan ’t IJ,
Amsterdam
Asko | Schönberg, Structure XI (No
27/11)
more
information
21 April 2021, New Music Miami ISCM Festival
Chen-Hui Jen, Attachments (No 55)
more information
13 Feb 2021, De Doelen, Rotterdam
Ensemble Klang, Environments (No 61)
CANCELED
11 Feb 2021, Muziekgebouw aan 't IJ, Amsterdam
Ensemble Klang, Environments (No 61)
CANCELED
21 Nov 2020, 18:30, 20:15 Uilenburgersjoel, Amsterdam
Michel Marang, clarinet/video, Signals (No
57,
premiere Part 1)
more information
2 Oct 2020, 20:00 Riverrun Festival, L’Athanor, Albi, France
Scordatura Ensemble, Enclosures (No
41)
more
information
watch on
YouTube
2 Feb 2020, 19:30 Joe Byrd Hall, Peabody, Baltimore, U.S.
Asko | Schönberg, Parallels (No 46,
premiere revised
version)
more information
26 Jan 2020, Galerie Marzee, 16:00, Nijmegen, Netherlands
New European Ensemble, Alternatim (No
65)
more
information
11 Nov 2019, Melos-Ethos Festival, 19:00 Slovenského rozhlasu, Bratislava,
Slovakia
Ensemble Spectrum, Waves 11-13 (No 39)
more
information
11 Oct 2019, Gaida Festival, 20:00, National Gallery of Art, Vilnius,
Lithuania
Ensemble Synaesthesis, Waves 3, 11-13, 2, 5-7
more
information
more
information
8 Sep 2019, Gaudeamus Muziekweek, 12:30 Hertz - Tivoli/Vredenburg, Utrecht,
Netherlands
New European Ensemble, Alternatim (No
65)
more
information
6 Sep 2019, Enescu Festival, 15:00 Radio Hall, Bucharest, Romania
New European Ensemble, Alternatim (No 65,
premiere)
more
information
past concerts