si·re·ne

(de; v; meervoud: sirenen) In de Griekse mythologie goddelijke zeenimfen die met hun onweerstaanbare gezang de zeelieden naar de kust van hun eiland lokten, waar zij op de rotsen te pletter sloegen.

Syrène on Dutch television!

29/04/2021

We probably all know the piece: Pictures at an Exhibition by Modest Mussorgsky. But have you heard it in a version for saxophone quartet? We were invited to play in Dutch tv show ‘Met klassiek de week door’ and made video recordings in the beautiful Concertgebouw Amsterdam.

Some museums in the Netherlands were allowed to reopen after a long time. Femke IJlstra (soprano saxophone) would love to visit the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam. She referred to a painting by Van Gogh: Landscape with a Stack of Peat and Farmhouses. A typical Dutch image that she imagines to be the Dutch ‘Old Castle’. Speaking of which…this famous alto saxophone solo made Femke Steketee decide as a child that she wants to be a saxophone player. She heard it when she was a little girl and from that moment it was her biggest dream to play the piece herself. Well…here we go. Enjoy! WATCH AND LISTEN HERE.

May 1 & 2: Water Music on the Vecht

On Saturday May 1st and Sunday May 2nd you can find us on our favourite spot: on the water! We’re performing Water Music by George Friedrich Händel on a boat on the Vecht, from Nieuwersluis to Maarssen. These concerts are made possible by Fonds Podiumkunsten – Balkonscènes.

On 17 July 1717, hundreds of boats overflowing with spectators filled the River Thames to see the celebratory boat cruise for King George I of Great Britain up close. For the occasion, George Friedrich Handel composed his Water Music suites performed by fifty musicians also seated on a boat. They were even called upon by the euphoric king to repeat the work three times that evening. It would take almost 125 years for the Belgian inventor Adolphe Sax to enrich the current set of instruments with his family of saxophones and thus lay the foundation for contemporary performance practice where saxophones can no longer be ignored.