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Imagine Utopia
Atlas Ensemble presents intercultural premieres 
Thu 5 May 2011 Amsterdam Muziekgebouw aan 't IJ 20.15 DoAv/Proms

line-up soprano, shakuhachi (Japan), oboe, sho (Japan), sheng (China), duduk (Armenia), clarinet, pipa (China), tar (Azerbaijan), guitar, mandolin, santur (Iran), qanun (Syria), zheng (China), koto (Japan), harp, piano, harmonium, percussion, erhu (China), kemençe (Turkey), sarangi (India), violin, viola, cello, double bass

Imagine the most beautiful instruments in the world brought together in a single ensemble – played by inspiring musicians from different cultures – performing heavenly new music. On Liberation Day, May 5, the Atlas Ensemble will present Imagine Utopia, an ode to the spirit of freedom and creativity. Among the soloists are great artists as the Armenian Gevorg Dabaghian (duduk), the Chinese Wu Wei (sheng), the Turk Neva Özgen (kemençe), and the Indian sarangi master Dhruba Ghosh.

In August 2010, the second Atlas Academy took place in Amsterdam. Sixty musicians and composers from around the world gathered together to conduct research, experiment, play music and compose. Here are the first results of this Academy, a series of intercultural premieres for various combinations of world instruments. The composers each chose their own point of departure. Their imagination transformed the Atlas Ensemble into a magical orchestra with an unprecedented palette of timbres.

conductor: Artjom Kim

The Atlas Ensemble is a unique chamber orchestra uniting brilliant musicians from China, Central Asia, the Near East and Europe. The ensemble presents an unheard unheard sound world of instruments from different cultures. The repertoire consists entirely of specially commissioned works.

The Atlas Ensemble opens up entirely new possibilities for colour and orchestration. Unlike the modern western heterogeneous ensemble in which one instrument of each family is featured, the Atlas Ensemble brings together instruments from various cultures which, whilst originating from the same ancestor, have travelled and developed over the course of centuries. Thus, a wide variety of instruments came into being. By uniting these descendants and combining their timbres, beautiful and previously unheard blends are obtained. This concept embodies the essence of the Atlas Ensemble.

The non-western members of the Atlas Ensemble include brilliant international soloists from Baku, Beijing, Istanbul, Jerevan and Teheran, such as Yan Jiemin (erhu), Gevorg Dabaghian (duduk), Kudsi Erguner (ney), Siamak Aghaei (santur) or Zhang Qiang (pipa). The western musicians mainly consist of members of the Nieuw Ensemble, the Dutch contemporary music group famous for both their excellence in performance and for their adventurous and literally groundbreaking programming.

The Atlas Ensemble is an initiative of Joël Bons, composer and artistic director of the Nieuw Ensemble. The idea originates in earlier successful projects by the Nieuw Ensemble with combinations of western and non-western instruments. With the Atlas Ensemble these experiences are stretched and elaborated into a richer, more balanced instrumental palette.
At the same time the meeting and cooperation of musicians from both eastern and western traditions will reach deeper understanding. A central issue – and one of great potential – is the difference between the oral/improvisational traditions on the one hand and the notational/compositional traditions on the other.

The Atlas Ensemble made its debut on 13 September 2002 at the Berliner Festspiele and performed in December 2002 in Holland (Amsterdam and Utrecht). Under the guidance of Ed Spanjaard a première programme was presented to great acclaim with works by Guo Wenjing, Jia Daqun (China); Faradj Karajev (Azerbaijan), Fabio Nieder (Italy) and Theo Loevendie (Netherlands).

The Holland Festival invited the Atlas Ensemble to be ensemble in residence for three weeks in June 2004 featuring workshops, master classes, concerts with traditional non-western repertoire and premières of new works by Frangiz Ali-Zade, Bun-Ching Lam, Jack Body, Stefano Bellon, Artjom Kim, Javanshir Guliev and Evrim Demirel. Every year the ensemble presents a new première programme. As an off spring of the activities, the Atlas Academy is organized every year since 2009, featuring an atelier for the creation of new music along with the study of instruments and musical practices through master-classes, demonstration of instruments, lectures and concerts. The third edition of the Atlas Academy will take place in 20011. The Conservatory of Amsterdam is co-producer and will host the event.

In 2006, artistic director Joël Bons received the prestigious Amsterdam Prize of the Arts for his work with the Atlas Ensemble.