Guus Janssen (born 13 May 1951) is a Dutch composer of contemporary music and a

recording artist A musician is a person who composes, conducts, or performs music. According to the United States Employment Service, "musician" is a general term used to designate one who follows music as a profession. Musicians include songwriters who w ...

. A

pianist A pianist ( , ) is an individual musician who plays the piano. Since most forms of Western music can make use of the piano, pianists have a wide repertoire and a wide variety of styles to choose from, among them traditional classical music, ja ...

and

harpsichordist A harpsichordist is a person who plays the harpsichord. Harpsichordists may play as soloists, as accompanists, as chamber musicians, or as members of an orchestra, or some combination of these roles. Solo harpsichordists may play unaccompanied son ...

, he is also active as a

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 ...

performer. He studied piano and composition at the Sweelinck Academy of Music 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 ...

with Ton de Leeuw and piano with

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 ...

.Janssen 2004
. He also studied piano with

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 ...

. He has performed with John Zorn,

George Lewis George Lewis may refer to: Entertainment and art * George B. W. Lewis (1818–1906), circus rider and theatre manager in Australia * George E. Lewis (born 1952), American composer and free jazz trombonist * George J. Lewis (1903–1995), Mexica ...

Han Bennink Han Bennink (born 17 April 1942) is a Dutch drummer and percussionist. On occasion his recordings have featured him playing soprano saxophone, bass clarinet, trombone, violin, banjo and piano. Though perhaps best known as one of the pivotal fig ...

(and Bennink's group

Clusone Trio Clusone Trio, also known as Trio Clusone or Clusone 3, was a Dutch musical group active from the late 1980s to the late '90s, composed of saxophonist/clarinetist Michael Moore, cellist Ernst Reijseger and drummer Han Bennink. Initially planned to ...

as a guest),

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 ...

, and

Gidon Kremer Gidon Kremer ( lv, Gidons Krēmers; born 27 February 1947) is a Latvian classical violinist, artistic director, and founder of Kremerata Baltica. Life and career Gidon Kremer was born in Riga. His father was Jewish and had survived the Holo ...

. He teaches at the

Royal Conservatory of The Hague The Royal Conservatoire ( nl, Koninklijk Conservatorium, KC) is a conservatoire in The Hague, providing higher education in music and dance. The conservatoire was founded by King William I in 1826, making it the oldest conservatoire in the Nether ...

. He won the

Matthijs Vermeulen Award The Matthijs Vermeulen Award is the most important Dutch composition prize. It was named after the Dutch composer Matthijs Vermeulen (1888–1967). During the years 1972 through 2004, the prize was awarded annually by the Amsterdam Foundation f ...

in 1984. He composed two

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 ...

s in collaboration with

Friso Haverkamp Friso is a legendary king of the Frisians who is said to have ruled around 300 BC. According to Martinus Hamconius in his 17th-century chronicle ''Frisia seu de viris rebusque illustribus'', and also the 13th-century Oera Linda Book, Friso was a ...

and has released several CDs.

Discography

* ''Klankast'' (Geestgronden, rec. 1987–1991) * ''Lighter'' (Geestgronden, rec. 1992–1995) with Ernst Glerum, Wim Janssen * ''Chamber & Solo'' (Geestgronden/Donemus rec. 1982–1996, ed. 1997) * ''Zwik'' (Geestgronden, 1996–1997) * ''Hollywood o.K. Pieces'' (Geestgronden, 2001) * Guus Janssen, David Kweksilber (Geestgronden, 2006) * ''Out of Frame'' (Geestgronden, 2008) * ''Meeting Points'' (Bimhuis, 2015, with Oene van Geel, Lee Konitz, Michael Moore (jazz musician),

Ernst Reijseger Ernst Reijseger (born 13 November 1954) is a Dutch cellist and composer. He specializes in avant-garde jazz, free jazz, improvised music, and contemporary classical music and often gives solo concerts. He has worked with Louis Sclavis, Dere ...

, Ernst Glerum, Wim Janssen,

a.o.)

Festival performances

* Open Music '92 (Открытая Музыка-92) in Saint-Petersburg, Russia

References

*Filanovskij, Boris. 2003a. "Gjus Jansen/Guus Janssen". In ''Pro gollandskuju muzyku'' n Dutch music edited by Irina Leskovskaja, 318–29. St Petersburg: Institut Pro Arte. *Filanovskij, Boris. 2003b. "Gjus Jansen: 'Menja zanimaet nesinhronnost' žizni'" uus Janssen: 'I Am Interested in an Asynchrony of Life' In ''Pro gollandskuju muzyku'' n Dutch music edited by Irina Leskovskaja, 330–34. St Petersburg: Institut Pro Arte. *Janssen, Guus. 2004.
Take Ten: Guus Janssen: 'Muziek is een prachtige manier om zonder woorden te gebruiken toch een eigen mentaliteit of levenshouding te laten spreken'
. ''Draai om je oren: Jazz en meer'' website. (Accessed 16 February 2010) *Oskamp, Jacqueline. 2003. ''Radicaal gewoon: Bestaat er zoiets als Nederlandse muziek?''. Amsterdam: Mets & Schilt. , *Schönberger, Elmar. 1986. "String Quartet or 'String Quartet'". ''Key Notes'', no. 23:13. *Waa, Frits van der. 1994. "Guus Janssen and the Skating-on-Thin-Ice Feeling". ''Key Notes'', no. 28, no. 3 (September):8–13. *Waa, Frits van der. 2001. "Janssen, Guus". ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'', second edition, edited by Stanley Sadie and John Tyrrell. London: Macmillan Publishers.

External links

Official site
1951 births Living people People from Heiloo Dutch composers Dutch pianists Dutch jazz pianists Dutch harpsichordists 21st-century pianists {{Netherlands-composer-stub