Artist archive: Bram van Sambeek

The earliest idea for a double concerto started in 2006 with fellow student and friend Joost Bosdijk, currently bassoonist in the London Symphony Orchestra, after a quite hilarious performance of Jan Křtitel Vaňhal’s classical concerto for two bassoons. We were accompanied by organ instead of orchestra and realised way too late that the organ was […]

Read more about Busy Bassoonists Begin the New Year…

Now that the CD is about to come out, I am taken back to the very beginning. I will never forget receiving the score and midi file of Sebastian Fagerlund’s bassoon concerto Mana.  While on my bike I listened to the computer generated mp3 file, and remember thinking, “Wow – I’ve never heard better electronic […]

Read more about Undaunted by Extreme Challenge

A new bassoon concerto commissioned for Bram van Sambeek from composer Sebastian Fagerlund. World premiere. Lahti, Finland. 6 December 2014. 5 December After some months of intense practising, the premiere in Lahti, Finland was finally coming up. I had the fortunate opportunity to work extensively with Sebastian Fagerlund during the week before the premiere, performing […]

Read more about Bassoon space travelling

The moment that I decided to leave my orchestra job, I wanted to focus mainly on playing chamber music and playing new music. Being a bassoonist you hear the phrase “there’s not enough repertoire for the bassoon” too many times, even by colleagues. Even though I don’t agree (it’s just a matter of selecting the […]

Read more about Sebastian Fagerlund Bassoon Concerto, step 1