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Belder's Beautiful Byrd
Pieter-Jan Belder
Pieter-Jan Belder studied recorder with Ricardo Kanji at the Royal Conservatorium of The Hague, and harpsichord with Bob van Asperen at the Amsterdam Sweelinck Conservatorium.
Since his graduation (1990) from both schools he has had a flourishing career as a harpsichordist, clavichord player, organist, forte-pianist and recorder player, appearing at many international festivals, such as the Festival Oude Muziek Utrecht, the Berlin Musikfest, the Festival van Vlaanderen, the Festival Potsdam Sans Souci, the Bremen Musikfest and the Leipzig Bachfest.
In 1997 and 2000 Belder was awarded prizes at the Hamburg NDR Music Prize harpsichord competition and the Leipzig Bach harpsichord competition.
Apart from his busy schedule of solo recitals, Belder is also very much in demand as a continuo player with ensembles such as the Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century, Bach Collegium Japan, Gesualdo Consort Amsterdam, and the Netherlands Bach Society, where he has worked with internationally acclaimed conductors such as Frans Brüggen, Ton Koopman, Masaaki Suzuki, and Philippe Herreweghe. Belder regularly accompanies soloists such as Johannette Zomer, Rainer Zipperling, and Kate Clark. He also conducts his own ensemble.
In 2005 he made his debut with his own Musica Amphion in the Amsterdam Concertgebouw. Since then, he has appeared there in many varied programmes, for example with Collegium Vocale Gent in Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas, Handel’s Dixit Dominus en het Gloria by Vivaldi.
In 2007 Belder completed a well-received integral recording of the Scarlatti keyboard sonatas. This is part of a steadily growing catalogue of CD-recordings, comprising Bach’s Well-tempered Clavier (2009), the complete harpsichord works by Rameau (2009) and Soler (2011), Kenner und Liebhaber series by C.P.E. Bach, recorded on the fortepiano and the clavichord. (2012). Recently Brilliant Classics has released the first integral recording of the famous Fitzwilliam Virginal Book (2020), a project Belder has been working on for more than 10 years. He is currently working on recording the harpsichord works by J.S. Bach, Daquin, and Soler. Reviewers used characterized Belder as “playing intelligibly and expressively so consistently, alternating sorrowful intensity, tenderness, wit and virtuoso dash as required.” (Diapason, 2017); “reliably spry, intelligently phrased, lucid and expressive.” (American Record Guide, 2023)
Apart from his prolific solo-productions, Belder also has recordings of orchestral and chamber-music to his name with his own ensemble Musica Amphion: Telemann’s Tafelmusik (2003), the complete works of Corelli (2004), Bach’s Brandenburg concertos (2006), Bach’s concertos for 2, 3 & 4 harpsichords (2006), the complete chamber music by Purcell (2007), and C.P.E. Bach’s harpsichord concertos (2012). The Corelli recording was dubbed “the new standard, Fono Forum. The Independent newspaper characterized playing on the Purcell recording as “elegant” and “highly refined.”
He also initiated Bach in Context, a concert- and CD series (2011-2015), performing thematically related Bach cantatas, together with associated repertoire for solo organ. The recordings were made on site using the main organ for both continuo and solos. This series was a collaborative effort with the Gesualdo Consort Amsterdam. “Spot-on, refinement, flexibility,” Music Web.
With Musica Amphion he has recently returned to Bach’s harpsichord concertos with a complete recording (2022).
He has a successful duo with baroque violinist Rie Kimura with whom he recorded C.P.E. Bach’s violin sonatas for the label Resonus. (2017). “intelligently and elegantly conveyed by the distinguished Amsterdam-based duo Kimura Belder.” (The Guardian).
Currently Belder is teacher of Baroque performance at the Musikhochschule in Lübeck, since 2019.
EDUCATION
Pieter-Jan Belder teaches at several conservatories in Groningen and Lübeck.
He is also a regular guest at master classes around the world, including Tokyo, Taipeh, Budapest, The Hague and Paris.
He also enjoys giving lessons in his own studio in Arnhem. Are you interested? Then get in touch via the contact form.
DUO BELDER KIMURA
Rie Kimura is a Baroque violin specialist. She was a student with Lucy van Dael, one of the co-founders of the Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century. She graduated with honours in 2010.
In the course of her subsequent career she has won quite a few prizes, such as the first prize in the 2008 Yamanashi Early Music Competition van 2008 in her native Japan, and the 2010 Premio Bonporti in Italy.
Her solo playing has been praised for its “strong personality imbued with expression and rhetoric,” (The Strad). Her first solo CD was awarded a well-earned 5-star review in the Dutch national newspaper De Volkskrant.
Kimura’s talents are in great demand in orchestras, such as Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra, Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century, Nederlandse Bach Vereniging, Bach Collegium Japan, and others.
Kimura’s natural ability as a chamber musician finds its bedding in various settings. She is a co-founder of the ensemble Fantasticus, who have some highly acclaimed recordings tot their name. Fantasticus regularly performs at all kinds of international venues. Together with Pieter-Jan Belder she focusses on compositions for violin and obbligato keyboard accompaniment, a rather specific 18th-century genre. In it they reached great heights as reflected in a nomination of their recording of Carl Philip Emanuel Bach’s violin sonatas as one of the best 50 CDs (2017) and high praise in The Independent: “intelligently and elegantly conveyed by the distinguished Amsterdam-based duo Kimura Belder.”
As of 2023 Kimura is embarking on many concerts with internationally acclaimed orchestra’s as well as on recordings of the Bach violin sonatas together with Pieter Jan Belder.
MUSICA AMPHION
Musica Amphion, founded in 1993 by harpsichordist Pieter-Jan Belder, focuses on the performance of seventeenth- and eighteenth-century orchestral and chamber music repertoire on period instruments. The ensemble brings to life the rich sounds of baroque music as they were once intended by the composers.
The musicians of Musica Amphion belong to the top the Dutch and international early music scene and have successful careers as soloists or perform regularly with renowned baroque orchestras, such as the Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century, the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra, the Freiburger Barockorchester and the Academy of Ancient Music.
DUO BELDER KIMURA
Rie Kimura is a Baroque violin specialist. She was a student with Lucy van Dael, one of the co-founders of the Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century. She graduated with honours in 2010.
In the course of her subsequent career she has won quite a few prizes, such as the first prize in the 2008 Yamanashi Early Music Competition van 2008 in her native Japan, and the 2010 Premio Bonporti in Italy.
Her solo playing has been praised for its “strong personality imbued with expression and rhetoric,” (The Strad). Her first solo CD was awarded a well-earned 5-star review in the Dutch national newspaper De Volkskrant.
Kimura’s talents are in great demand in orchestras, such as Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra, Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century, Nederlandse Bach Vereniging, Bach Collegium Japan, and others.
Kimura’s natural ability as a chamber musician finds its bedding in various settings. She is a co-founder of the ensemble Fantasticus, who have some highly acclaimed recordings tot their name. Fantasticus regularly performs at all kinds of international venues. Together with Pieter-Jan Belder she focusses on compositions for violin and obbligato keyboard accompaniment, a rather specific 18th-century genre. In it they reached great heights as reflected in a nomination of their recording of Carl Philip Emanuel Bach’s violin sonatas as one of the best 50 CDs (2017) and high praise in The Independent: “intelligently and elegantly conveyed by the distinguished Amsterdam-based duo Kimura Belder.”
As of 2023 Kimura is embarking on many concerts with internationally acclaimed orchestra’s as well as on recordings of the Bach violin sonatas together with Pieter Jan Belder.
MUSICA AMPHION
Musica Amphion, founded in 1993 by harpsichordist Pieter-Jan Belder, focuses on the performance of seventeenth- and eighteenth-century orchestral and chamber music repertoire on period instruments. The ensemble brings to life the rich sounds of baroque music as they were once intended by the composers.
The musicians of Musica Amphion belong to the top the Dutch and international early music scene and have successful careers as soloists or perform regularly with renowned baroque orchestras, such as the Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century, the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra, the Freiburger Barockorchester and the Academy of Ancient Music.
DUO BELDER KIMURA
Rie Kimura is a Baroque violin specialist. She was a student with Lucy van Dael, one of the co-founders of the Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century. She graduated with honours in 2010.
In the course of her subsequent career she has won quite a few prizes, such as the first prize in the 2008 Yamanashi Early Music Competition van 2008 in her native Japan, and the 2010 Premio Bonporti in Italy.
Her solo playing has been praised for its “strong personality imbued with expression and rhetoric,” (The Strad). Her first solo CD was awarded a well-earned 5-star review in the Dutch national newspaper De Volkskrant.
Kimura’s talents are in great demand in orchestras, such as Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra, Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century, Nederlandse Bach Vereniging, Bach Collegium Japan, and others.
Kimura’s natural ability as a chamber musician finds its bedding in various settings. She is a co-founder of the ensemble Fantasticus, who have some highly acclaimed recordings tot their name. Fantasticus regularly performs at all kinds of international venues. Together with Pieter-Jan Belder she focusses on compositions for violin and obbligato keyboard accompaniment, a rather specific 18th-century genre. In it they reached great heights as reflected in a nomination of their recording of Carl Philip Emanuel Bach’s violin sonatas as one of the best 50 CDs (2017) and high praise in The Independent: “intelligently and elegantly conveyed by the distinguished Amsterdam-based duo Kimura Belder.”
As of 2023 Kimura is embarking on many concerts with internationally acclaimed orchestra’s as well as on recordings of the Bach violin sonatas together with Pieter Jan Belder.
MUSICA AMPHION
Musica Amphion stands for authentic and sincere. Our ensemble dishes out musical treasures from the 17th and 18th centuries, performed with original instruments and at the highest level.
The musicians of Musica Amphion take you on a quest for the most original sound and let you experience how the music might have been performed at that time. Music as it sounded in the ears of the composers themselves, that is what we want you to hear.
Musica Amphion, founded in 1993 by harpsichordist/recorder player Pieter-Jan Belder, focuses on the performance of seventeenth- and eighteenth-century orchestral and chamber music repertoire on original instruments.
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