Carel Kraayenhof: bandoneón, artistic leader, composer
Carel Kraayenhof (1958), bandoneonist, composer and arranger, is the most fascinating and versatile contemporary bandoneon player. Unique in his style due to his profound knowledge of the of Argentinean tango, he moves/touches any audience worldwide with his enchanting and honorable play. By working closely together with Astor Piazzolla (†1992) in 1987 during the Broadway show ‘Tango Apasionado’ and his long lasting personal friendship with the beloved Tango Maestro Osvaldo Pugliese (†1995), he developed into one of the most beloved bandeonists of this moment. One of his highlights was on 2-2-2002 as he passionately performed the moving ‘Adiós Nonino’ during the marriage ceremony of H.R.H. Prince Willem Alexander and H.R.H. Princess Maxima. Next to his work during the previous 21 years with his Sexteto Canyengue, he also worked with celebrities from the classical music scene such as: Ennio Morricone, Yo-Yo-Ma, the violinists Janine Jansen, Joshua Bell, and the cellist Quirine Viersen. He is an internationally welcome bandoneon soloist with various international symphonic orchestras such as for instance: the London Symphony Orchestra, the Berliner Philharmoniker, l’Orchestre National de Lyon,Tonkünstler Orchestra (Wenen), the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, the Cincinnatti Symphony Orchestra, the Sidney Symphony Orchestra, the London Philharmonic Orchestra with STING and many others.
That Carel does not limit himself to one single style of music is proven by his work together with singers Dulce Pontes and Sting. In the Netherlands he has recorded numbers with for instance André Hazes (Bloed, zweet en tranen), Blᴓf (Barcelona, Bougainville, Geen Tango), Trijntje Oosterhuis (Nu dat jij er bent), Dana Winner (Afscheid van een Vriend) and he performed with Marco Borsato.
Carel has received many awards, such as the ‘Edison Publieksprijs’ in 2003 for his CD ‘Tango Royal’ and in 2005 he was awarded by the Argentinean Government for his inexhaustible worldwide efforts for the Argentinean tango.
Juan Pablo Dobal (piano)
Juan Pablo Dobal was born in 1964 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. From his ninth year he plays the piano and from his fifteenth year he regularly performed classical concerts. On his seventeenth he got his certificate music-teacher and when he was twenty-two he also got the certificate music-teacher at the national conservatory. In spite of his classical education Juan Pablo also has always been active in the field of improvised music, Folklore, Tango, Jazz and Latin-American music. On his 25th he settled down in Amsterdam where he was a member of a quartet of that time ‘Viento del Sur’ in which Carel Kraayenhof also played. Since that time he worked as a pianist and composer with several artists as Fernando Lameirinhas, Leonardo Amuedo, Raymond van het Groenewoud, Stef Bos, Alfredo Marcucci, Gustavo Toker and the Aurelia Saxophone Quartet. In 2008 he released in Argentina his solo-CD ‘ Loco corazón’. With his own theatre-shows he performed in the whole country of the Netherlands. Since the end of 2010 he is the new pianist of the tango-duo with bandoneonist Carel Kraayenhof, Sexteto Canyengue and the Kraayenhof Tango Ensemble.
Jaap Branderhorst (double bass)
Jaap Branderhorst studied guitar and double-bass at the Sweelinck Conservatory in Amsterdam. After his study he played in almost all Dutch symphony-orchestras, like the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra with which orchestra he made many concert-journeys all over the world.
Jaap also played in several modern music-ensembles as the ASKO-Schönberg Ensemble, the New Ensemble and the Xenakis Ensemble. For many years he was the double-bass-player of the Escher Ensemble. Furthermore he manifested himself in the field of the light music.
With friends he started the Petit Orchestre Orange , a band specializing in the jazz-style of the twenties. Since 2005 Jaap is the double-bass-player of Sexteto Canyengue. Also in the Kraayenhof Tango Ensemble he appears on stage with Carel and old acquaintances of Sexteto Canyengue.
Bert Vos (1st violin)
Bert Vos started playing the violin at the age of seven. On his sixteenth he became the leader of the Hague Instrumental Youth Ensemble. Two years later he went to study with Jan Hulst at the Rotterdam Conservatory. In 1993 Bert Vos was the only Dutch musician in the International Youth Orchestra in Israel, under the direction of maestro Lorin Maazel.
Bert followed masterclasses in a.o. Stuttgart and New York. After getting his certificate of Teaching Musician he continued his study Performing Musician at the Rubin Academy in Tel Aviv. He also was a member of the Gertler String Quartet. Back in the Netherlands Bert became a violinist of the Escher Ensemble and a regular guest-player in the Gelders Orchestra. Bert is the leader and founder of the klezmerband Shtetl Band Amsterdam. Shortly Bert is a member of the ensemble Novaya Shira of lady-singer Shura Lipovsky. Since spring 2005 Bert is 2# violinist/viola-player of Sexteto Canyengue and also in the Kraayenhof Tango Ensemble he functions as 2# violinist.
Iefke Wang (2nd violin)
Iefke Wang studied violin at the Messiaen Academie with T. Schmidt von Altenstad and Kees Koelmans. At the Scuola di Musica di Fiesole in Italy she studied with Maria Elena Runza and Boriana Nakev. She has had coachings by Roby Lakatos, Moshe Hammer, Rudolf Koelman and Barnabas Kelemen. She was member of string quintet Ambrosia, with whom she toured in Colombia and Spain and had coachings by Antonello Farulli, Riccardo Cecchetti and Corrado Bolsi. Iefke has been a regular guest player in the Gelders Orkest and performed with Opera Trionfo and Grup Yorum. In 2006 Iefke became Master in Arts and Sciences at Maastricht University. Iefke is now teaching violin at Music School Amsterdam, member of Picabia String Quartet, RBO Sinfonia and Shtetl Band Amsterdam. Since 2012 Iefke is member of Kraayenhof Tango Ensemble
Jan Willem Troost (cello)
Jan Willem Troost is a member of the Caetani String Quartet, Ensemble Modelo62 and various orchestra’s. He is as well involved in music theatre productions with !Ynx and Alba Theaterhuis/Compost. Since 2012 Jan Willem is the cellist of the Kraayenhof Tango Ensemble.
Together with dancer/choreographer Samir Calixto he created Beating Hollow, a duet for dancer and cellist (in collaboration with Korzo Productions). With this performance they were finalists in the Jur Naessens Muziekprijs 2009 competition at the BIMhuis, Amsterdam. Besides his experience in the experimental rockband can_of_be he specialized in Argentinean tango with Orquesta Amago and the Gerard van Duinen Tango Trio.
In 2006 Jan Willem Troost graduated from the Fontys Conservatory in Tilburg, where he studied with Paul Uyterlinde. Before he was a student of Ran Varon and Jeroen den Herder at the conservatories of Zwolle and Utrecht. He had lessons with Maria Hol, Jaap Kruithof, Lenian Benjamins, Eduard van Regteren-Altena and Nadia David.
He followed masterclasses with Marcio Carneiro, Vladimir Perlin and Gabor Takács-Nagy (Takács Quartet). Jan Willem attended the Internationale Ferienkurse für Neue Musik 2010 in Darmstadt, Germany, where he has been coached by Bill Forman and Lucas Fels, cellist of the Arditti Quartet.