“Forget your hairdo, because your hair will stand stiff upward when the symbiosys forces cross the stage” wrote newspaper De Volkskrant after the premiere concert of Henosis. Henosis was created after Bram Stadhouders received the Composition Assignment from the North Sea Jazz Festival in 2012. Stadhouders wrote his work for a special combination: eight members of one of the most admired choirs in the classical world, the Netherlands Chamber Choir, and his own trio: guitar, drums and electronics.
One might think that classically trained musicians and jazz/improvisers are two different categories that are not easy to blend. Stadhouders proves that this is a wrong conception. Henosis means “unity” in Ancient Greek, and this is exactly what Bram had in mind: putting the best of two different worlds into one intense organic experience of both bombastic and very intimate atmospheres. Contrasts in rhythm, emotion and compositional techniques make this piece grab your attention from beginning to end, and a perfect synergy is created between conductor, classical vocalists, and improvisers.
At just 25 years old, with this project, Bram Stadhouders can be counted among the most promising musicians of the future, keeping his previous work in mind as well. He has collaborated with international icons such as Sidsel Endresen, Jim Black, Terje Isungset, Grzech Piotrowski, and toured around the globe with his ever changing projects. Recently he was also selected for Take Five Europe led by Serious in the UK, and was chosen TopTalent in his province Noord-Brabant.
Henosis can be performed with professional choirs, and the Bram Stadhouders trio.
For short sound samples and info click: http://www.bramstadhouders.nl/page1/page0/
For the entire concert on youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1posgTUlHpI
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