Donemus Webwinkel — Blaha, Christian

Christian Blaha (Middelburg, The Netherlands, 1972) studied Composition (MA) for which he graduated Cum Laude, Piano and Choral Conducting (MA) at the Tilburg Conservatory with, amongst others. Alexandre Hrisanide and Paul Komen. Blaha then studied orchestral conducting with Ed Spanjaard in Amsterdam and after extensive research he obtained a PhD-degree from the University of Utrecht in 2019. In Blaha’s exciting PhD-dissertation titled “What is possible in Middelburg, is just not possible” the impressive historical curve of the equally famous, as well as notorious, association Youth & Music Zeeland / Foundation New Music Zeeland is documented and described for the very first time. Blaha colourfully paints a picture of the The Youth & Music Zeeland / Foundation New Music Zeeland and the instrumental role they played as Dutch bridgehead of international Avant-Garde art from the end of the 1960s until the end of the 1980s.
As a composer, Blaha has a prolific output, which was partly created thanks to his untamable curiosity for the historical, as well as the contemporary musical practice, form and content. In remembrance of Richard Strauss’ motto “Interesting music does not exist, only good or bad”, Blaha combines Gregorian chant with contemporary (pop)music which greatly contributes to the inspiration for the crystallization of his artwork.
Amongst Blaha’s classical compositions are:
- Concerti (like ‘Tripelconcerto’ (2005), ‘Nubesconcerto’ (2007), ‘Doubleconcerto’ (2008), ‘Concerto Antico/Pianoconcerto’ (2008) and ‘Concerto for saxophone’ (2014).
- Vocal works (including ‘Missa’ (2006/2007), ‘3 Motets’ (2008), ‘Een Koud Bad-24 songs underwater’ (2009), ‘Controleer uw maatregelen’ (2010), ‘Requiem’ (2012), ‘Veni Creator’ (2016), ‘Liefde, Lust, Leven’ (2019) en ‘7 Letzte Worte’ (2019).
- Solo- and chamber music (like Pianosonata nr.1 (1996), Pianosonata nr. 2 (1997), ‘Sonata per violino solo’ (2009) and ‘Serenade for Strings’ (2011).
- Symphonic poems and Symphonies (including ‘Ritterspiele’ (2001), ‘Noach’ (2004), ‘Michael and the Dragon’ (2005) and ‘Vergänglichkeit’ (2008)) and four symphonies (‘Jahreszeiten’ (2009), ‘Symphonie Nr.2’ (2010), ‘Titanic’ (2011) and ‘The Great War/Der Große Krieg’ (2013/2014).
Furthermore, Blaha composed in the light genre, such as Musical theater (‘Nebbens’ (2004), ‘Hotel Lijkzicht’ (2011) and various songs, like for example composing music to lyrics created by Peter Slager from Dutch international acclaimed pop/rockband ‘Bløf’).
Additionally, Blaha is frequently commissioned to compose or create arrangements for high profile (inter)national) events, as well as other successful musicians, such as the ‘Festival van Vlaanderen’, ‘Zeeland Nazomerfestival’, ‘Limburgs Symfonie Orkest’, ‘Nederlands Promenade Orkest’, ‘Xenakis Ensemble’, ‘Nieuw Amsterdams Peil’, ‘Belcanto Strings’, Pianoduo Post/Mulder, Mathieu van Bellen, Dutch rockband ‘Peer’, Rik Mol, Stephan Geuzebroek and internationally acclaimed singer Glennis Grace.
Blaha is founder of the professional chamber orchestra ‘TY’, with which he as artistic director/conductor successfully brought new works in the spotlight for over a decade. Together with his friend Tassilo Erhardt, Blaha created a semiprofessional chamber choir, whose aim it is to perform brand new work, as well as ancient, forgotten music.
Currently, Blaha also passionately teaches the art of Composition at University College ‘Roosevelt’; the Honours College from the University of Utrecht which is located in the charming city center of Middelburg, in Zeeland, The Netherlands.