Donemus Webwinkel — Woudenberg, Rijndert van

Rijndert van Woudenberg is composer and performing artist. Artistic Director of the Via Nobel Foundation and owner of Music in Amsterdam, he is based in Amsterdam and Tokyo.
Rijndert van Woudenberg graduated from the Conservatory in Amsterdam in 1996; having studied Classical- and Jazz guitar under Lex Eisenhardt and Hans Kunneman. As a private student he studied orchestration under Rutger van Leyden and Geert van Keulen. His work field stretches from classical contemporary music to composing for film and theatre.
In 2009, on the occasion of 400 years trade between Japan and The Netherlands, Van Woudenberg was commissioned to compose for the legendary Ensemble Nomad from Tokyo. Because of the success of the performance a series of collaborations with Japanese musicians and artists in and outside Japan followed.
2009 - Maybe Tomorrow - Opera
2009 - Petrarca - Song cycle on Poems by Francesco Petrarca.
2010-2012 Several performances in Japan of works for guitar.
2013 - Desiderata for Choir, Mezzo soprano and Ensemble - Concerts Estonia and The Netherlands in collaboration with Ensemble NOMAD, Ekaterina Levental and The Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir.
2014 - Dharma for Ensemble. China
2015 - Beyond the Rainbow (Requiem) for ensemble and Viola - performed by Ensemble Kochi. Conductor: Isao Matsushita. Soloist: Wakako Hanada (Viola)
2015 - Forest ways - Violin Sonate performed by Wakako Hanada.
2015 - Perron 13 (Platform 13 -１３番線ホーム) Music for dance film. Director Camiel Zwart. Dansers Shintaro Oue, Kenzo Kusuda. Presented on 45 International Filmfestivals.
Perron 13 has received seven awards.

Since 2014 Van Woudenberg is researching on Japanese traditional music as a preparation for the historical Opera ‘Dejima’ (Work title) about the life of Von Siebold on Dejima from 1823 till 1829.
In order to write this Opera he wanted to familiarise himself with Japanese traditional music and so he became a student of the Japanese masters Yosuke Irie, Keigo Ayusawa, Keiko Nosaka and Kikuku Matsumoto. For years he was focussing on Toru Takemitsu’s research on Japanese traditional music for writing „November steps” (1967).
In October 2018 a highlight concert version of this Opera was performed in Tokyo Opera City. After its premiere, this work was considered cultural heritage and the most important cultural cooperation between Japan and The Netherlands. This performance was an intermediate phase of this monumental opera. It was meant to show the work in progress. The tour of the final Opera will be announced soon.
In 2019 and 2021 Van Woudenberg released two compositions based on the works of James Allen. These first releases are the beginning of a series of compositions based on the work of this great philosopher.
As a composer, Rijndert van Woudenberg received assignments from, among others, the Nederlands Blazers Ensemble, Het Concertgebouw, Escher Ensemble, Helsinki Guitarduo, International Guitar festival Helsinki, Sibelius Academy (Helsinki), Martin Fogel (Japan), Romeo (string) Quartet, Saxo Panico, the Koh-i-noor saxophone Quartet, Stichting eigen werk, Rozemond Productions, the Music Theatre Collective, Festival aan de Werf and the Oerol festival, Ensemble Nomad (Japan), Eyeworks, ERP-Music (Estonia). Ensemble Kochi (Japan), NTR Television, Blackframe Productions, Duo Verso, Duo Bilitis, ZED-consort/Hollands Collectief.