CHRISTIAAN  DE  JONG

short CV

improviser

teaching

press reviews

recordings CD/MP3

agenda

composer (Rotterdam, Holland 1960) I compose quite a lot for my own contemporary classical or jazz ensembles or my solo programmes, but also more and more for others, if possible collaborating from close with the interpreters. Some of these artists are quite well-known and respected musicians like Orkest De Volharding, Harry Sparnaay, Marcel Worms, Banda Municipal de Barcelona, Ralph van Raat, Wiek Hijmans, others are less well-known, but also very good players. Also I compose for music students of all grades including for my daughter’s ensembles. It is for me a special challenge to compose relative simple, but still interesting and at the same time didactic pieces. Some of my pieces are just structures or directions, which serve as a base for improvisation and other pieces are worked out in detail. Some pieces are very ritmic and others are more based on pure sound. I like fast changes between moods. I composed for soloists to symphony orchestras, for jazz quartets to big bands. Sometimes I like to combine exotic instruments from different cultures and sometimes I use live electronics or "tape". Some pieces are intellectual highbrow and some simple melodies. Sometimes I look for "the Truth" and sometimes just for pleasure. current   composition projects: chamber music pieces for children, piece for organ, piece for Cobla Principal d'Amsterdam, Haikus for flute, guitar and electronics, a piece for electric guitar and orchestra, a piece for electric guitar and string quartet, a piece for Kaida Trio, a piece for    Mathijs Koene (pan flute + electronics), piece for M. Koene, S. Gerritsen + (guitar, pan flute and singer), new pieces for flute and electronics, a piece for cello and electronics, pieces for EBNM "Tiempos" project, pieces for my Modern Jazz Flute 4tet, a  new piece for Banda Municipal de Barcelona, a piece for a project with Garth Knox, a piece for Ensemble Areté, a piece for viola and guitar for Alturas Duo, a piece for piano + tape for Ralph van Raat. In the past I  composed for: Het Muziek Trio, Theatre group "Sheer Madness", Trio Sekwenza, Ensemble Barcelona Nova Musica, Christiaan de Jong Ensemble, Duo Daniel Ahlert & Birgit Schwab (guitar and mandolin), Grupo Circulo (Madrid), Banda Municipal de Barcelona, Duo Cuypers /Lop (sax /electric guitar), Josetxo Silguero (tenor saxophone and CD), Duo Matthijs Koene & Stefan Gerritsen (pan flute and guitar), Duo Wiek Hijmans & Anna McMichael (electric guitar and violin),  Dutch group  "Orkest De Volharding",   Barcelona Percussion group,   Harry Sparnaay (Bass clarinet and tape), Trío Silvia and Harry Sparnaay+ Christiaan de Jong (e-guitar, bassclarinet, church organ) Marcel Worms( piano + electronics), Ruth Lluis( piano + electronics), Sound of Colors Ensemble +Beatrice Voellmy, Ensemble BB, pieces for "Folklore from Nowhere" of Christiaan de Jong Ensemble (jazz). I like to mix improvisational elements and much defined composed parts and the fact that I improvise on both flute and guitar has brought me more then once to new ideas or sound conceptions. On the other hand my being a composer has influenced very much my way of improvising. I am artistic director of Cicle Internacional d'Influències Musicals, a contemporary music series in Barcelona, which I conceive as a big composition in which I like to invite as many as possible musicians, who deserve and want to be part of it....