Calefax Reed Quintet

Oliver Boekhoorn, oboe
Bart de Kater, clarinet
Raaf Hekkema, saxophone
Jelte Althuis, bass clarinet
Alban Wesly, bassoon

Celebrated not least for the invention of their original genre, the reed quintet, Calefax is known internationally for their virtuosic playing and their “pop” sensibility as they arrange, recompose and interpret music from eight centuries to suit their unique constellation. From early music to classical and jazz to world premières, in the hands of Calefax it all sounds fresh and new. The Amsterdam-based ensemble has received many prestigious awards, including the 1997 Philip Morris Arts Prize, the 2001 Kersjes van de Groenekan Prize, the 2005 VSCD Classical Music Award, and the 2012 German Junge Ohren Prize for the family musical show De Muziekfabriek. They perform frequently throughout Europe, as well as in Russia, China, India, Turkey, Japan, South Africa, Brazil, and the USA. The Times (UK) has called them “five extremely gifted Dutch gents who almost made the reed quintet seem the best musical format on the planet.”

For their 2021/2022 season, Calefax will undertake a tour to the USA for a series of concerts and masterclasses in Virginia, North Carolina and Tennessee. The tour concludes with a concert in Alexandria (VA), where they will perform the USA premiere of Un Momento Dado by composer Johan de Meij with the United States Air Force Band. Calefax will also perform repertoire from the concert series The New World According to Dvořák.

2021 brought the 14th Annual Calefax Composers Competition, an international competition for composers of the reed quintet format. In 2019 Calefax released their 19th CD Dido & Aneazz with renowned trumpeter Eric Vloeimans, an album inspired by Henry Purcell’s masterpiece that virtuously flows from the baroque original to jazz, calypso and klezmer, and back. Classical CD Review noted in their review that, “All are masters of their instruments. Purcell might be turning over in his grave—but then perhaps he is smiling.” Calefax also released Hidden Gems in 2018, featuring some of the lesser-known composers and compositions from Calefax’s extensive repertoire. Frits van der Waa of De Volkskrant praised Hidden Gems for, “The incredible interaction between the five musicians…a flawless ear for the most wonderful combinations of sounds – and a flair for uncovering hidden treasures.”

Calefax’s recent US performance history has included dates at the Frick Collection, Chamber Music Salt Lake City, Brigham Young University, the Vilar Center, and Chamber Music San Francisco. They have made appearances in the Netherlands at the WMC Kerkrade, Hoornse Haven Concerten, Concertgebouw, De Doelen, Jurriaanse Zaal, TivoliVredenburg, Hertz, Theater de Veste, Nieuwe Kerk, November Music, and Muziekgebouw aan’t IJ; in Hong Kong at the Ngau Chi Wan Civic Centre and North District Town Hall; at the Stadsgehoorzaal Leiden, Philharmonie Luxemburg; and the Liszt Academy in Budapest, Hungary. Other major venues in which they have performed include Wigmore Hall (London), the Oriental Arts Center (Shanghai), Lincoln Center (NYC), Concertgebouw Belgium, and the Donderdagavondserie Muziekgebouw (Amsterdam), where they have performed world premières of works by Carola Bauckholt, Klas Torstensson and Yannis Kyriakides. In January 2013, Calefax had the honor of accompanying the former Dutch Queen Beatrix on her final two state visits to Brunei and Singapore. Calefax has recently appeared at New York’s Town Hall in Music & Image, performing a program accompanied on stage by movable projection screens for which video material has been specially developed. They have also collaborated with composer Nico Muhly and Dutch rising star soprano Lenneke Ruiten.

Calefax Reed Quintet has enjoyed collaborations with a wide range of renowned artists, including pianists Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Ivo Janssen, Louis van Dijk and Michael Braam; violinists Liza Ferschtman and Claude Chalhoub; singers Christianne Stotijn, Helena Rasker, Nora Fischer and Denise Jannah; trombonist Christian Lindberg; trumpeter Marco Blaauw; percussionist Arnold Marinissen; clarinetist Kinan Azmeh; ensembles Jungle Boldie (formerly the Tony Overwater Trio), Zapp4, Cappella Amsterdam, Danel Quartet, the Nederlands Kamerkoor; choreographers Boukje Schweigman and Sanne van der Put; and visual artists Jaap Drupsteen and Wouter van Reek.

In addition to their performance for the soundtrack of the 2013 Dutch film De nieuwe wildernis, Calefax has released eighteen recordings under PENTATONE, the German label MDG, as well as their own label, RIOJA Records, each garnering rave reviews from the international press. The Dutch newspapers De Telegraaf and De Volkskrant awarded Calefax five stars for their celebrated recording of the Goldberg Variations. Two of their recent recordings, The Roaring Twenties, with mezzo-soprano Cora Burggraaf, and On the Spot, with jazz trumpeter Eric Vloeimans, explore the world of jazz and improvisation. Paul Janssen with Luister music magazine wrote, “The wind quintet and Vloeimans create a sensational CD as if there are no borders between early and new music, no discographic categories separating jazz and classical genres; they embrace ethnic musical influences as if these have simply and at long last been given their fitting place within the whole.” Calefax’s CD, Romantic Kaleidoscope, was released in 2015, with the anniversary book Calefax en de Caleidoscoop, celebrating their 30th anniversary as an ensemble.

Recently Calefax began publishing sheet music of their most successful arrangements under the name Calefax Edition. As a result, new reed quintets have been formed in the Calefax tradition all over the world, including in Argentina, New Zealand, Australia, the United States, and Europe. Through masterclasses and workshops throughout the U.S. and Europe, including a Ted X Talk in Amsterdam, the Calefax musicians pass on their specific methods and musical experiences to coming generations. For musicians, as well as composers, for audiences and press alike, Calefax continues to be an inspiring chamber music laboratory with their annual PAN festival, hosting and performing a motley selection of music adventures.

With their bold vision, the Calefax Reed Quintet remains inspirational for their innovative and original, contemporary yet timeless, interpretations of classical music.

*Updated December 2021

November 28, 2022: Calefax Hosts 15th Anual Composers Competition
- Calefax

January 31, 2022: Calefax Deprives National Anthem from Its Gs
In a plea for opening the concert halls, the internationally acclaimed Dutch reed quintet Calefax released a video in which they perform their national anthem ‘Wilhelmus’ while omitting all the notes G – referring to the level of protection audience members need for their COVID Pass. (In Dutch the words Vaccinated, Cured and Tested all start with the letter G.)
- Calefax

July 23rd, 2021: Calefax Announces New Clarinetist, Bart De Kater
-Calefax

FROM BACH TO SHOSTAKOVICH, THE CALEFAX REED QUINTET MAKES A CASE FOR THE ART OF TRANSCRIPTION
“This was a tour de force performance that displayed the band’s versatility, technical mastery and interpretive skills to the fullest. Their compelling and convincing rendering emphasized the fluid lyricism and nuanced dynamics and expressive shadings of Bach’s original. The Calefax made the Goldberg Variations seems notably fresh in this retooling, the music springing to life with their vibrant and magnificent playing.”
– Edward Reichel, Utah Arts Review

SAMPLE PROGRAMS

Bach: Fantasia & Fugue BWV 542 (arr. Jelte Althuis)
Rebel: Chaos from Les Elémens (arr. Jelte Althuis)
Franck: Deuxième Choral (arr. Jelte Althuis)
Debussy: selections of Préludes (arr. Raaf Hekkema)
***
Nancarrow: Selections of Studies for Player Piano (arr. Raaf Hekkema)
Dvořák: Allegro non tanto & Allegro vivo (arr. Jelte Althuis) from Quintet Op. 97 (“American”):
Gershwin: An American in Paris (arr. Raaf Hekkema)

*Upated January 2024