Harry Sacksioni (born 23 October 1950, in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

) is a

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

and

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

virtuoso of

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

origin. The peak of his fame was during the 1970s to 1990s. Famous works of this period include ''Meta Sequoia'', ''Vensters'' and ''Elixer'', along with re-arrangements of existing pieces, such as '' Anji'' (

Davy Graham David Michael Gordon "Davey" Graham (originally spelled Davy Graham) (26 November 1940 – 15 December 2008) was a British guitarist and one of the most influential figures in the 1960s British folk revival. He inspired many famous practitioners ...

), '' Scarborough Fair'' (arr.

Paul Simon Paul Frederic Simon (born October 13, 1941) is an American musician, singer, songwriter and actor whose career has spanned six decades. He is one of the most acclaimed songwriters in popular music, both as a solo artist and as half of folk roc ...

) and I Wish (

Stevie Wonder Stevland Hardaway Morris ( Judkins; May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, who is credited as a pioneer and influence by musicians across a range of genres that include rhythm and blues, Pop musi ...

). Sacksioni's work is mainly instrumental, although some tracks during the 1980s provided guitar accompaniments to vocals provided by himself and

Raymond van het Groenewoud Raymond van het Groenewoud (born 14 February 1950) is a Belgian musician. He was born in Schaerbeek, of Dutch descent, and he sings primarily in Dutch. His biggest hits include "Vlaanderen Boven", "Meisjes", "Je Veux de l'Amour", "Zjoske Schone M ...

. Sacksioni was one of the artists who recorded the song ''Shalom from Holland'' (written by

Simon Hammelburg Simon Hammelburg (Amsterdam, February 28, 1952 – Marbella, June 15, 2022) was a Dutch entertainer, songwriter, journalist, and Holocaust educator. He died in Marbella 15 June 2022. Prior to the first Gulf War (1991) Hammelburg produced th ...

and Ron Klipstein) as a token of solidarity to the Israeli people, threatened by missiles from Iraq, during the first Gulf War in 1991. Sacksioni's work is not commercially motivated, and as a result, he is not often featured in the mainstream media. His records appear under an independent, privately owned label Katowee (from ''cutaway,'' a feature of some guitars) as a protest against the high prices of CDs. Sacksioni uses various guitars during a live concert. When touring, he chooses instruments from his collection of acoustic and electric guitars to suit the venue and programme. He plays both 6 and 12-string guitars, both acoustic and electric. An unusual guitar of his is a hand-built double guitar: one half is electric and the other half is acoustic. Sacksioni has been living in

Lienden Lienden is a village in the Dutch province of Gelderland. It is a part of the municipality of Buren, and lies about 9 km south of Veenendaal. Lienden was a separate municipality until 1999, when it was merged with Buren. History It was fi ...

, Netherlands, since the 1980s. Before that, he lived in Amsterdam. Harry Sacksioni was made a Knight of the

Order of Orange-Nassau The Order of Orange-Nassau ( nl, Orde van Oranje-Nassau, links=no) is a civil and military Dutch order of chivalry founded on 4 April 1892 by the queen regent, Emma of the Netherlands. The order is a chivalric order open to "everyone who has ...

, decorated by Klaas Tammes, mayor of the municipality of

Buren Buren () is a town and municipality in the Betuwe region of the Netherlands. Buren has 27,168 inhabitants as of 1 January 2022. Geography Buren is located in Gelderland, a province of the Netherlands. It is part of the landscape of Betuwe, a ve ...

, during a concert in the Agnietenhof in

Tiel Tiel () is a municipality and a town in the middle of the Netherlands. The town is enclosed by the Waal river and the Linge river to the South and the North, and the Amsterdam-Rhine Canal to the East. Tiel comprises the population centres Kapel- ...

on 9 May 2009. On his 60th birthday, Harry was given a tribute concert by a number of musical colleagues in the famous Amsterdam venue Carré.

Major collaborations

Frank Boeijen Franciscus Johannes Maria (Frank) Boeijen (born 27 November 1957 in Nijmegen) is a Dutch singer and guitarist. His best known songs are ''Kronenburg Park (Ga die Wereld Uit)'' about a prostitute, ''Zwart Wit'' about the racial murder of Kerwin ...

* Digmon Roovers * Herman van Veen * Erik van der Wurff * John May

Discography

Studio albums

Live albums

Compilations

Singles

*''Het dubbelleven van Holle Vijnman / Prikklok 07.45 uur'' (1979) *''Herman van Veen, Erik van der Wurff & Harry Sacksioni'' (1981) *''Suikerspin / Marco Polo'' (1981) *''Nachtjournaal / Escapade'' (1984) *''Je moet eerst vliegen / De telganger'' (1985) *''Paddentrek / Yeti'' (1987) *''Alter Ego / Bath Blues'' (1990) *''Fuerteventura / Arena'' (1994) *''The Killy Killy Song'' (1994) *''Jessica / Masai Mara'' (1994) *''Meta Sequoia / Axel F.: Toerist'' (1998) *''De paddentrek'' (2008)

External links

Harry Sacksioni's official website

Listening

2007

2007 {{DEFAULTSORT:Sacksioni, Harry 1950 births Living people Dutch guitarists Dutch male guitarists Musicians from Amsterdam Knights of the Order of Orange-Nassau