The Conservatorium van Amsterdam (CvA) is a Dutch conservatoire of music located in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...

. This school is the music division of the

Amsterdam University of the Arts The Amsterdam University of the Arts ( nl, Amsterdamse Hogeschool voor de Kunsten) is a Dutch vocational university of arts located in Amsterdam. The university consists of: * Academy of Architecture * Academy of Theatre and Dance * Breitner Aca ...

, the city's vocational university of arts. The Conservatorium van Amsterdam is the largest music academy in the Netherlands, offering programs in classical music,

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

, pop, early music, music education, and

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a libr ...

History

The oldest predecessor of the Conservatorium van Amsterdam was founded in 1884 as the Amsterdamsch Conservatorium, four years before the completion of the

Concertgebouw The Royal Concertgebouw ( nl, Koninklijk Concertgebouw, ) is a concert hall in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The Dutch term "concertgebouw" translates into English as "concert building". Its superb acoustics place it among the finest concert halls in ...

. In 1920, a competing music academy was established in Amsterdam by a society called 'Muzieklyceum'. The Bachzaal, used by the Amsterdamsch Conservatorium, was completed in 1931. In 1976, the Amsterdamsch Conservatorium, Conservatory of the Muzieklyceum Society, and the Haarlems Muzieklyceum merged to form the Sweelinck Conservatorium. This "new" academy of music moved to the former savings bank building in the Van Baerlestraat in 1985. In 1994 the Sweelinck Conservatorium merged with Hilversums Conservatorium to form the Conservatorium van Amsterdam. From 1998 its training programmes took place in their facilities in Van Baerlestraat and the

Nieuwe Vaart The Nieuwe Vaart or Nieuwevaart is a 17th-century canal in Amsterdam that runs from the center to Amsterdam-Oost (Amsterdam East). Kromhout Museum is located on the Nieuwe Vaart. On this site, the Westkap is still used as a shipyard, but the Oos ...

. In 2008 the school moved to Oosterdokseiland.

Building

Since April 21, 2008, the Conservatorium van Amsterdam has its home in a new building at the Oosterdokseiland, near Amsterdam Central Station. The new building is centrally located in a cultural area, including the 'Muziekgebouw' with three concert halls for classical music and jazz, and the public library. Other faculties of the

(''Amsterdamse Hogeschool voor de Kunsten'' in Dutch) are within walking distance. This new complex is designed and equipped to current standards. Students can organize solo or ensemble concerts, create interesting projects with other music students or students from other art disciplines. They also make their own posters and flyers, sell tickets, or record their concerts in one of the concert halls and broadcast them on the internet radio at the CvA website. The design, by Dutch architect Frits van Dongen, is based on the 'Engawa model', the Japanese way of building, where the corridors are situated next to the outer walls of the building and the concert halls, classrooms and study rooms, within. Large windows in the front transmits sufficient daylight into the rooms. This building method is intended to enable students to study without being disturbed, while corridors keep noises out. The new building contains three units. At ground level there are four halls: * Bernard Haitinkzaal, a large hall with 450 seats * Amsterdam Blue Note, a hall for jazz and pop concerts, which seats 200 * Sweelinckzaal, a recital hall with 120 seats * Theaterzaal, which seats 50 The Bernard Haitinkzaal and Sweelinckzaal have windows which transmit daylight, which is exceptional for a concert hall. All halls have recording equipment, so that each concert or playing exam can be recorded. There is also a foyer and a canteen at ground level. At the next level there are four floors with lesson and classrooms and on top of these there are two floors with the library, a lecture hall and study rooms. Acoustic planning was by Akoestisch bureau Peutz, who researched the acoustic requirements of the lesson and study rooms and concert halls.

People

Directors

Ton Hartsuiker Antoni Fredrik "Ton" Hartsuiker (12 May 1933 in Zwolle – 8 May 2015 in Utrecht) was a Dutch classical pianist, best known as a performer of 20th-century classical music, composer, music school administrator, and radio broadcaster. He was the dir ...

Faculty

Current

* Richard Ayres * Boris Belkin *

Ilya Grubert Ilya, Iliya, Ilia, Ilja, or Ilija (russian: Илья́, Il'ja, , or russian: Илия́, Ilija, ; uk, Ілля́, Illia, ; be, Ілья́, Iĺja ) is the East Slavic form of the male Hebrew name Eliyahu (Eliahu), meaning "My God is Yahu/ Jah ...

* Willem Jeths * Peter Kooy * Anna Korsun * Jaap ter Linden * Bart van Oort * Tjako van Schie *

Ed Spanjaard Eduard Philip Spanjaard (born 22 December 1948), known professionally as Ed Spanjaard, is a Dutch conductor and pianist. Early life Spanjaard was born in 1948 in Haarlem. His father was a psychiatrist and amateur pianist, and his mother a fl ...

* Jos van Veldhoven

Emeriti

Willem Andriessen Willem Andriessen ( Haarlem, October 25, 1887 – Amsterdam, March 29, 1964) was a Dutch pianist and composer. His compositional output was small due to the demands of performance and teaching, but he was nonetheless awarded a number of compositio ...

(also an alumnus) *

Oskar Back Oskar Back (9 June 18793 January 1963) was a noted Austrian-born Dutch classical violinist and pedagogue. He taught at the Amsterdam Conservatory for 42 years, and also had a significant earlier teaching career in Belgium. Biography Oskar Back w ...

Klaas Bolt Klaas Bolt (March 6, 1927 in Appingedam – April 11, 1990 in Haarlem) was a Dutch organist and improviser. He taught improvisation at the Sweelinck Conservatory (named for Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck, a Dutch organist and composer of the Renaissa ...

Sarah Bosmans-Benedicts Sara Bosmans-Benedicts (23 October 1861 – 12 November 1949) was a Dutch pianist and piano pedagogue. Benedicts was born in Amsterdam, the daughter of Benedictus Benedicts and Hanna de Goede. Her parents were Jewish; her father was a violinist a ...

* Max van Egmond * Peter Erős * Vesko Eschkenazy *

Wim Henderickx Wim Henderickx (; 17 March 196218 December 2022) was a Belgian composer of contemporary classical music. He was composer in residence at Muziektheater Transparant and the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra, writing operas and other stage works. His m ...

Herman Krebbers Herman Krebbers (18 June 1923 – Tilburg 2 May 2018) was a Dutch violinist. Born in Hengelo, Overijssel, Krebbers studied in Amsterdam with Oskar Back. He gave his first concert at age 10. In 1943, Krebbers debuted with the Concertgebouw ...

* Ton de Leeuw * Gustav Leonhardt * Murray Perahia * António Chagas Rosa *

Jaap Spaanderman Jacobus Hendrikus Bastiaan "Jaap" Spaanderman jr. (17 October 1896 in Gouda – 22 July 1985 in Laren) was a Dutch pianist, cellist, conductor and piano and conducting pedagogue. Jaap Spaanderman jr. was the son of organist and conductor Ja ...

(also an alumnus) * Theo Verbey * Matthijs Verschoor (also an alumnus) *

Abbie de Quant Abbie de Quant (born 1946, The Hague) is a Dutch flautist. She taught at the music academies of Amsterdam and Utrecht and had her own bi-annual concert series at the Concertgebouw of Amsterdam. Abbie de Quant studied with Koos Verheul at the Music ...

Alumni

Svitlana Azarova Svitlana Azarova ( uk, Світлана Азарова; born 9 January 1976) is a Ukrainian-Dutch composer of contemporary classical music, originally from the Ukrainian SSR. Early years Svitlana Azarova was born on 9 January 1976, in Izmail, ...

Kees Bakels Kees Bakels (born 14 January 1945, in Amsterdam) is a Dutch conductor. Bakels began his musical career as a violinist, and later studied conducting at the Amsterdam Conservatory and the Accademia Musicale Chigiana in Siena, Italy. He has appea ...

* Pieter-Jan Belder *

Bart Berman Bart Berman ( he, ברט ברמן; born 29 December 1938) is a Dutch-Israeli pianist and composer, best known as an interpreter of Franz Schubert and 20th-century music. Career Bart Berman studied piano with Jaap Spaanderman at a predecessor ...

Coenraad Bloemendal Coenraad Bloemendal (born April 30, 1946 in Amsterdam) is a Dutch-born Canadian cellist, who has performed, taught and recorded primarily in the field of classical music during a career that has spanned more than four decades. Formal training I ...

* Hendrik Bouman *

Frans Brüggen Franciscus ("Frans") Jozef Brüggen (30 October 1934 – 13 August 2014) was a Dutch conductor, recorder player and baroque flautist. Biography Born in Amsterdam, Brüggen was the last of the nine children of August Brüggen, a textile factory o ...

Theo Bruins Theo Bruins (25 November 1929, in Arnhem – 8 January 1993, in Haarlem) was a Dutch pianist and composer. Life and career Bruins' earliest piano lessons were with his mother. His professional piano studies commenced in 1946 with Jaap Spaanderman ...

* Sytse Buwalda *

Hans Davidsson Hans Davidsson (born 1958) is a Swedish organist and pedagogue. He was one of the driving forces behind establishing the organ research center GOArt and the Eastman Rochester Organ Initiative. He is currently professor of organ at the Royal Danis ...

* Thoms Dunn *

Caro Emerald Caroline Esmeralda van der Leeuw (born 26 April 1981), known for the project Caro Emerald, is a Dutch pop and jazz singer who mainly performs in English. Active since 2007, she rose to prominence in 2009 with the debut single, " Back It Up". Th ...

Ivo van Emmerik Ivo van Emmerik (born 1961 in Amsterdam, North Holland) is a Dutch composer. Ivo van Emmerik lives and works in Zwolle, where he teaches twentieth-century music at the Arnhem/Zwolle School of Music (ArteZ Institute of the Arts). He studied comp ...

Tom Gaebel Tom Gaebel is a German singer and leader of a big band named after himself. He changed the spelling of his last name, omitting the umlaut. In addition to singing and arranging, Gaebel writes lyrics in English. Gaebel was born on 13 January 197 ...

* Sim Gokkes *

Bernard Haitink Bernard Johan Herman Haitink (; 4 March 1929 – 21 October 2021) was a Dutch conductor and violinist. He was the principal conductor of several international orchestras, beginning with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in 1961. He moved to Lon ...

* Majoie Hajary *

Walter Hekster Walter Hekster (29 March 1937 – 31 December 2012) was a Dutch composer, clarinetist and conductor of classical music, specializing in contemporary classical music. Biography Hekster graduated from the Amsterdam Academy of Music in 1961 studyi ...

* Robert Hill * Ilse Huizinga * Jorge Isaac * Christine Kamp * Rudolf Koelman *

Reinbert de Leeuw Reinbert de Leeuw (8 September 1938 – 14 February 2020) was a Dutch conductor, pianist and composer. Life Lambertus Reinier de Leeuw's mother and father were both psychiatrists: Cornelis Homme 'Kees' de Leeuw (1905-1953) and Adriana Judina ...

* Charles van der Leeuw *

Theo Loevendie Johan Theodorus Loevendie (born 17 September 1930 in Amsterdam) is a Dutch composer and clarinet player. Loevendie studied composition and clarinet at the music academy (Conservatorium) of Amsterdam. Initially he concentrated on jazz music. A ...

* Daniel Moult * Ben van Oosten * Tera de Marez Oyens * Ella van Poucke * Lawrence Renes *

Martin Schmeding Martin Schmeding (born 1975) is a German church musician, concert organist and academic teacher, who has made recordings of the complete organ works by composers such as Brahms, Mendelssohn, Franz Schmidt, Max Reger and Tilo Medek. Career Bo ...

* Cameron Shahbazi * Paul Gutama Soegijo * Marjo Tal * Signe Tollefsen * Merlijn Twaalfhoven * Geertruida Vladeracken *

Frank Peter Zimmermann Frank Peter Zimmermann (born 27 February 1965) is a German violinist. Childhood He was born in Duisburg, West Germany, and started playing the violin when he was five years old, giving his first concert with orchestra at the age of 10. Since he ...

* Uxia Martinez Botana

References

External links

Official Website in Dutch

Official Website in English
{{Authority control 1884 in the Netherlands Amsterdam University of the Arts Music schools in the Netherlands