Where visual art becomes sound — for cellists and composers

Jeroen den Herder completed his studies with distinction with Maria Hol, Dmitri Ferschtman and Christopher Bunting. He then became a leader of the Cello Octet Conjunto Ibérico, a group with a worldwide reputation as a full time cello ensemble.

Den Herder gained several music awards. Among them a first prize-winner of the “Postbank Sweelinck” cello competition and the first prize of the Foundation of the Royal Concertgebouw Amsterdam. He’s been an active chamber music player, performing with musicians like Janine Jansen, Igor Roma, Anner Bijlsma and as a member of the Ruysdael Quartet Den Herder performed in all major concert halls in Holland (Concertgebouw) England (Wigmore Hall) and Japan (Oji Hall). Their concerts at the Amsterdam Quartet Biënnale received much acclaim. Between 1999 and 2012 Jeroen has been the cellist of the Nieuw Ensemble, one of the leading Dutch ensembles for contemporary music.

Fulfilling the function of artistic director CelloWercken Zutphen, which embodies both the International Cello Festival and the Cello Academy, he commissioned contemporary composers the write for the festival, leading to inspired projects such as The Tibetan Book of the Death and Passion of Innocence.

Den Herder has been a dedicated teacher ever since he took a professorship at the age of 22 at the Utrecht conservatory. His lessons are based on the development between mind and body, and a cello technique inspired by his teacher Christopher Bunting, a former student of Pablo Casals. Cello playing based on natural principles like gravity, character and playfulness.

“Everything is music, play not to avoid mistakes, delegation of body functions and breathing” are some key topics which will lead to a healthy way achieving perfection. His main focus is making people aware what they exactly practise. He believes being aware of one’s imagination, sensitive listening, intuition and delegation of body functions are elements that have proved to be the best teachers for life.

He’s been a regular guest teacher at the Conservatory in Minsk (2003-2010) and visiting guest- professor at the University in Tainan, Taiwan. Furthermore he has given masterclasses in Holland, Belgium, Spain, Germany, France, China and Israel. Today he helds positions as a teacher at the Conservatories of Utrecht and Rotterdam.

“I’ve heard Jeroen den Herder performing the Elgar cello concerto with the Sint Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra. He played with great distinction and sensitivity, and I believe he will grow into a wonderful cellist” Yehudi Menuhin, 1995.

Vanessa Lann is a Dutch-American composer, pianist and educator living and working in the Netherlands. Born in Brooklyn, she began studying piano at the age of five. Her first compositions also stem from her childhood years.

After graduating from Harvard University she came to the Netherlands in 1990 to continue her studies in composition with Theo Loevendie and Louis Andriessen at The Hague’s Royal Conservatory.

Shortly after arriving in the Netherlands she received her first commission from ensemble Orkest De Ereprijs and has continued to write for Dutch and international musicians, ensembles and festivals ever since.

She now has a total of 95 commissioned works to her name, ranging from solo pieces to works for large ensemble, choir, and orchestra. She has also worked on a number of scenic and staged projects with a range of interdisciplinary collaborators.

In 2022 Vanessa Lann was appointed as the first Head of Composition for Film and Theatre at the ArtEZ Conservatory in Arnhem. In this part-time position she leads an international team of academic staff and visiting professionals from the film and music sectors to provide a dynamic, practically-based curriculum designed to equip students for future careers in composing for film and the live performing arts.

Arnold Marinissen: ‘For me, creating music is all about immersing. Warmth and pulse are words that come to mind when I try to describe my music. Voice and text are important; I like to follow the route that a text lays out for me, to deal with breath, diction, nuances of intonation, and I’m intrigued by the personality of each individual voice.’

With his background in percussion he also likes to write for this multi-coloured family of instruments. But he equally gladly dedicates himself to strings, winds and keyboards, electro-acoustic music and music for dance and film.

His works were performed by, amongst others, Residence Orchestra string trio, Asko|Schoenberg Ensemble, Storioni Trio, Slagwerk Den Haag, Silbersee, Calefax Reed Quintet, Ensemble SCALA, Ensemble Variances (France), Maat Saxophone Quartet, Asko Kamerkoor, Pinquins Percussion Trio, Prisma Strijktrio, and performers such as Katharina Gross (cello), Helena Rasker (voice), Michel Marang (clarinet), Goska Isphording (harpsichord), Ernestine Stoop (harp), Claire Edwardes (percussion), Tatiana Koleva (percussion), Raymond Honing (flute). He created work for choreographer/dancer Ederson Rodrigues Xavier, for the Dutch cinema film Bernard, and for an audio visual installation by the Italian artist Pierluigi Pompei.

His vocal quintet Von Pferden, Gräsern, Sonnen, Menschen was nominated for the Toonzetters Best Dutch Work of 2012 Prize. It was performed by VOCAALLAB in the Holland Festival 2012, and by EXAUDI in the UK. His work has been performed throughout the Netherlands, in the Biennale di Venezia, the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival, the PASIC and Zeltsman Marimba Festival (USA), Sao Paolo (Brazil), Taipei (Taiwan), Zagreb (Croatia) and Wellington (New Zealand), amongst others.

His music also sounded in the Dutch cinema film Bernard and in dance productions by Club Guy & Roni, Korzo Productions and Scapino Ballet; it was broadcast by the BBC and in The Netherlands.

Alfian Emir Adytia is an Indonesian cellist, composer, and performer based in the Netherlands. He completed his Master’s degree in classical cello music at The Royal Conservatoire of The Hague, where he achieved an outstanding 9.5/10 grade with distinction in originality.

Following his studies, Emir delved into the captivating world of live electronics, expanding his sonic interests. Since 2017, he has released six independent albums, showcasing his musical evolution and genre explorations. Deeply rooted in Indonesian folk music and European classical musical training, a fusion that adds a unique dimension to his compositions, Emir’s works have been performed on major stages. Furthermore he was honored with a special mention prize in the Calefax Composers Competition in 2022 and received an honorary mention in the Bartók World Competition for Composition.

His music has been widely played from a humble community-based young cellists circle in Yogyakarta, to a film screening in FIVARS festival in Los Angeles and Montreal.

“Incredibly versatile, deeply devoted to music, overwhelming, and an excellent trombonist” – Jury of the Grachtenfestival Award

Arjan Linker (2000) is a Dutch composer and trombonist, specialising in North Indian Classical music. Coming from a background in classical music and a widespread interest he developed himself into a versatile musician working as a composer, trombonist, arranger and improviser in a variety of projects. His music reminds of impressionism, minimal music and early baroque, as well as hip-hop, jazz and metal.

Linker’s fascination for Indian music began during his studies and he started learning intensively with two masters, Ustad Sabir Khan and Vidushi Tulika Ghosh. After travelling to India multiple times, years of lessons and devotion towards Indian music, Linker is now considered part of the musical families of his gurus. Ever since, Indian music has been a big part of Linker’s musical language: in his composed music he inspires western musicians with raga, and he is the first ever trombonist to perform Indian classical recitals.

With Linker’s broad musical background comes a diverse body of work, stretching from raga to counterpoint and from groove to rich orchestration. His pieces have been performed by orchestras and ensembles like the Noord Nederlands Orkest, the Nederlands Blazers Ensemble and the Ricciotti Ensemble. His work has been performed in all major Dutch concert halls and multiple works have been recorded. Besides his work as a composer, Linker is a sought-after arranger. His arrangements are performed in most of the concerts of the Nederlands Blazers Ensemble, the Dianto Reed Quintet and his own Nymphéas Trombone Quartet.

As a trombonist Linker plays different genres of music: as a chamber musician he performes contemporary, classical and early music with Insomnio, the Nederlands Blazers Ensemble and the Nymphéas Trombone Quartet. With groups like Nachtlicht Ensemble and Collective Move he is active in improvised music, often incorporating live electronics. However, as a performing musician, his biggest focus remains his solo recitals playing Indian Classical music with tabla players like Niti Ranjan Biswas and Imran Khan.

For his work as a composer, trombonist and improvisor Linker has been awarded the Grachtenfestivalprijs 2025, the Prijs voor Jong Talent 2023 from Kunst aan de Dijk Kortenhoef, a second prize at the Prinses Christina Compositieconcours, the Koninklijk Conservatoriumprijs voor jonge componisten, he won the composition contest of the Nederlands Blazers Ensemble and was awarded the prizes for culture of the municipality of Emmen and the province of Drenthe. In 2021-2022 he was a new maker in residence for the Grachtenfestival Amsterdam.

Linker studied classical composition and classical trombone at the Conservatory of Amsterdam with teachers Richard Ayres, Wim Henderickx, Willem Jeths, Meriç Artaç, Pierre Volders, Remko de Jager, Jörgen van Rijen and Bart van Lier.

As a talented pianist, Hua-Hsuan Lee has been awarded prizes in numerous national and international competitions in her young age, including the first prize of International Cross-Strait International Music Competition(2015), the first prize of International Violin & Piano Competition of Vienna (2011), the first prize of Taiwan Music Competition (2007) , the second prize of Taiwan National Student Competition(2007) and as 3ème Prix à l’unanimité of International Music Competition (2022).

In 2016, while she studied for her master degree with Russian-German pianist Stepan Simonian in Hochschule fur Musik und Theater Hamburg, her unique music talent and soulful playing was discovered by mastro Jeroen den Herder. Following that she has formed the cello/piano duo with Mr. den Herder and has been invited by numerous International festivals giving performances in Spain, Turkey, Netherlands. Since 2020, they have created their own concert series “Den Herder op Zondag”, where the diverse music has been provided to the public. The repertoire amounts virtuoso classical music to contemporary music.

Next to her solo career, Hua-Hsuan Lee has extensive experience working as collaborative pianist with promising musicians and teachers, for instance Leonid Gorokhov, Jakob Koranyi, Gavriel Lipkind, Pieter Wispelwey. Since 2017 she collobrate as pianist in residence of Cellofestival Zutphen for masterclasses and concerts.

Being a highly sensitive and enthusiastic artist, she has an unusual sensation and deep desire of searching for different artistic ways of self-expression. Her curious and challenging heart leads her to CelloWercken, where she can express freely in her unique voice and share her warm heart with people.