Ensemble New Amsterdam - musicians
Ensemble New Amsterdam was originally founded in 2002 as quartet of clarinet, flute, piano and cello by Catherine Reijans (flute). This unorthodox combination of instruments enabled the musicians to explore new combinations in programming like the silent film project by Filmmuseum Amsterdam in 2003. ENA gave concerts throughout the Netherlands and in Washington D.C. In New York they have worked together with composer Jonathan Holland and flutist Katherine Hoover.
For the opera JASSER the ensemble consists of clarinet, cello, percussion, ud and electronics.



Marcel Andriessen - slagwerk
Marcel Andriessen (1966) studied percussion at the Hilversums Conservatorium. He performs with theatre and dance companies such as Dogtroep, De Appel, Danstheater Krizstina de Chatel, Het Nederlands Danstheater, Theater Artemis and Het Noord Nederlands Toneel and in contemporary music ensembles such as Ensemble Polychromie Lille, The Barton Workshop, Het Schoenberg Ensemble and percussion group Den Haag. Together with Wim Konink he forms a percussion duo specializing in contemporary music. In the last few years they premiered works by: Harry de Wit, Jan Bus, Luc Brewaeys, Phillippe Boesmans, Jonty Harrison and Roger Marsh. Marcel was a member of Circle Percussion from 1994-2002 and is a member of percussion group The Hague since 1998.



Michel Marang - clarinet
Amsterdam based clarinetist Michel Marang studied with Walter Boeykens and finished conservatory cum laude in 1987, the same year in which he also got his degree in philosophy at Amsterdam University. Hereafter he studied with Hans Deinzer (Germany) and took masterclasses with Roger Heaton (England) and Susan Stephens (USA). Apart from his interest in classical music, theatre, and world-music, Marang specializes in contemporary music. He collaborated with many composers, including Olivier Messiaen, Morton Feldman, Edison Denisov and Karlheinz Stockhausen. With the latter he studied his monumental ‘Harlequin’, a 45 minute solo for a dancing and miming clarinetist. Over thirty compositions were dedicated to him. In addition, Marang wrote music for several theatre productions, such as "Nicky Somewhere Else", which was very successful on Broadway. As a soloist, Michel Marang performed throughout Europe, the USA, Mexico, Russia, Ukraine, Estonia, India, and the Middle-East. He gave seminars at several leading institutions, including the Moscow Conservatory.



Ilonka van den Bercken - cello
Ilonka van den Bercken studied at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague with Dmitri Ferschtman. She continued her studies with Melissa Phelps at the Conservatory in Amsterdam and the Royal College of Music in London. In 2001 she graduated with diplomas for both cello and baroque cello with First Class Honours. In London she performed the Dvorak cello concerto with the orchestra of the Royal College. Ilonka has taken part in many different festivals and masterclasses, amongst others with Colin Carr, Frans Helmerson, Gyorgy Kurtag, Oliver Knussen and Andrew Manze. She was principal cellist of the Britten-Pears Baroque Orchestra for two years and a member of the European Union Youth Orchestra.
Now living in Amsterdam she is free-lancing as a cellist in orchestras and chamber music ensembles. With Ensemble New Amsterdam, which she co-founded, she made a tour to the USA. Ilonka is also a member of Conjunto Iberico, a cello octet with whom she performs in the Netherlands and throughout Europe and North and South America. Future projects include producing a newly written opera for Ensemble New Amsterdam, which will be premiered in Amsterdam in September 2006 and will tour in the Netherlands. In April 2006 Ilonka made her debut as a stage-director when staging the Italian baroque opera La Liberazione di Ruggiero in Oslo.



Guy Harries - electronics
Composer/performer born in Israel, working in London and Amsterdam. He studied sonology and composition at the Royal Conservatory in the Hague. He has worked extensively as flutist and vocalist. His current musical work consists mostly of the interactive combination of live electronics and acoustic instruments. His compositions were broadcast and performed in various venues around the world. He was winner of the Henriette Bosmans prize of the Association of Dutch composers (GeNeCo)
for the year 2000. He collaborated with musician Meira Asher in the programme Infantry (performance and album), and with ensembles such as POW and the N Ensemble. His compositions have been performed by contemporary ensembles such as: Tate Ensemble, SOIL, The Roentgen Connection, Dutch Vocal Lab and LOOS. At the moment he is studying for a PhD in electro-acoustic composition at City University in London. He is also a singer-songwriter, practising electronic troubadourism with his laptop and voice.
For more information: www.myspace.com/gharries



Behsat Üvez - ud
For many years Behsat Üvez worked with a number of dance groups and orchestras in Turkey. He was an instrumentalist and soloist with the Ankara State Ensemble for nine years, and the musical leader of the folkloristic dance and music ensemble Tüfem in Ankara. With these two groups he travelled all over the world, propagating Turkish music. Since 1989 he has worked as a musician and music teacher in the Netherlands.
Behsat is both singer and multi-instrumentalist. He plays the baglama (saz), cura, tar, kabak kemane (knee viol), violin, cümbüs (fretless lute), ud, mandolin en various percussion instruments. His expertise lies in Turkish, Balkan and Mediterranean music. Apart from solo- performances, he played in Orient Express, Ano Kato (Greek music), Cafe Barana and the Hasan Band. He has also participated in a great many experimental and international projects, such as Female Factory ,5-May project with the Metropol Orchestra, Music Meeting (Nijmegen, 2000), Foundation Jazz Utrecht, the Culture Factory Amsterdam (1999-2000), Foundation Kulsan (2000), Circus Colourful City in Nijmegen, Global Village Orchestra and festival “Klap op de Vuurpijl”-NPS/Radio 4 with Alan Laurrilard`s Seafood plus, Raiz met Fernando Lamerinihas, Made in Holland .
With clarinettist Steven Kamperman Beshat founded the innovating and very successful project ensemble Barana & Co. This acclaimed ensemble performed at well-known jazz and world music festivals like the Music Meeting Nijmegen, SJU Jazz festival Utrecht and the VPRO festival Amsterdam. In 2006 – 2007 Behsat is planning a theatre tour in the Netherlands and abroad with Barana & Co. Apart from teaching saz, Turkish percussion and singing at the Groningen and Hoogezand Schools of Music, Behsat coordinates short-term activities at the Groningen School of Music. Both in the Netherlands and abroad he is much in demand as a performing musician and workshop leader.