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The Dutch tronbonist, Jörgen van Rijen, started playing trombone at age 8, and at the age of 16 began studying at the Rotterdam Conservatory under George Wiegel. During his studies, he spent three months studying with Michel Becquet, solo trombonist and teacher at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Lyon, where he also studied Baroque trombone with Daniel Lassalle.
After briefly playing principal trombone with the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, Jörgen van Rijen joined the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in the same position in 1997. He is also much in demand as a soloist with a special commitment to promoting his instrument, developing new repertoire for the trombone and bringing the existing repertoire to a broader audience. He is a specialist on both the modern and Baroque trombone. He has performed as a soloist in most European countries, as well as the USA, Canada, Japan, China, Korea, Russia, Singapore and Australia and performed concertos with orchestras including the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, Taiwan Philharmonic and Nagoya Philharmonic. A frequent guest soloist with a number of orchestras, he was also invited to perform for several months in 2014 as a member of the trombone section of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra. He has also performed for several seasons as principal trombonist with the Lucerne Festival Orchestra. In coming seasons he will appear as a soloist with orchestras such as the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Philharmonic Antwerp, Dallas Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande and the Orchestra of the Staatstheater Cottbus.
Jörgen van Rijen was awarded the Netherlands Music Prize in 2004, the highest distinction in the field of music, by the Dutch Ministry of Culture. In 2006 he received the prestigious Borletti-Buitoni Trust Award, which is presented yearly to a selection of the most promising and talented young international soloists and ensembles.
This Award has allowed him to commission new works from composers such as Kalevi Aho, and to make a series of recordings. He has won other major prizes, including first prizes at the international trombone competitions of Toulon and Guebwiller.
Jörgen van Rijen is also an active chamber musician in several ensembles such as the RCO Brass and Brass United. Since 2003 he has been a founder and leading member of the New Trombone Collective. Based in the Netherlands, the group has so far released three CD recordings and been invited to perform throughout the world.
In March 2001 Jörgen van Rijen made his solo debut with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra performing Henri Tomasi's trombone concerto. A recording of this performance was released on his first solo album on Channel Classics Records in March 2005. In a review of his first CD, the music magazine Luister wrote: 'Van Rijen is a real ambassador of his instrument, which is still not often used as a virtuoso brass instrument among composers. But there are not that many trombonists who reach the brilliant level of Van Rijen. In sound, dynamic, colour, musical understanding and expressiveness, Van Rijen is unequalled...'. He has released 5 CD's on the label Channel Classics.
In 2007 Dutch composer Theo Verbey was commissioned by the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra to write a trombone concerto with Jörgen van Rijen as soloist. The premiere performance of the new work, LIED, was given in September 2007, and released on RCO's own record label, RCO Live. Many other new pieces have been written for him, including works by Jacob TV and Florian Magnus Maier. In the spring of 2012 he has premiered a trombone concerto by Kalevi Aho that was written for him as a commission from the Borletti-Buitoni Trust, with concerts with the The Hague Philharmonic Orchestra, the Oulu Sinfonia in Finland and the BBC Symphony Orchestra. About that last concert The Times wrote: "... van Rijen and Aho turned the trombone into a fount of melodic grace and gambolling, cradled over four generous movements by an equally refined orchestra..." On April 20, 2017, he performed the world premiere of Trombone Concerto by James MacMillan, composed for him with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra conducted by Iván Fischer. It will be followed by concerts with orchestras in the USA, Finland, Belgium, Switzerland and Germany.
Jörgen van Rijen teaches at the Amsterdam Conservatory and has been appointed International Visiting Professor at the Royal Academy of Music, London.
Jörgen van Rijen plays exclusively on instruments built by Antoine Courtois. He currently lives in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. |
