Harry van der Kamp (born 1947 in Kampen) is a Dutch bass singer in opera and concert. Mostly active in

Historically informed performance Historically informed performance (also referred to as period performance, authentic performance, or HIP) is an approach to the performance of Western classical music, classical music, which aims to be faithful to the approach, manner and style of ...

, he founded the Gesualdo Ensemble. He is also an academic voice teacher.

Singing career

Born in

Kampen Campen or Kampen may refer to: Places Finland * Kampen, the Swedish name of Kamppi, a district in Helsinki Germany * Campen, Germany, a village by the Ems estuary, northwestern Germany, home of the Campen Lighthouse * Campen Castle, a part ...

, van der Kamp studied first law and psychology 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 ...

. Then he studied singing with Elizabeth Cooymans and

Max van Egmond Max van Egmond (born 1 February 1936 in Semarang) is a Dutch bass and baritone singer. He has focused on oratorio and Lied and is known for singing works of Johann Sebastian Bach. He was one of the pioneers of historically informed performance of B ...

at the Amsterdam Sweelinck Conservatory.Harry van der Kamp
on bach-cantatas He has worked mainly in

Early music Early music generally comprises Medieval music (500–1400) and Renaissance music (1400–1600), but can also include Baroque music (1600–1750). Originating in Europe, early music is a broad musical era for the beginning of Western classical m ...

and

Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...

, including Baroque opera of composers such as

Francesco Cavalli Francesco Cavalli (born Pietro Francesco Caletti-Bruni; 14 February 1602 – 14 January 1676) was a Republic of Venice, Venetian composer, organist and singer of the early Baroque music, Baroque period. He succeeded his teacher Claudio Monteverd ...

, Stefano Landi, Antonio Cesti,

Henry Purcell Henry Purcell (, rare: September 1659 – 21 November 1695) was an English composer. Purcell's style of Baroque music was uniquely English, although it incorporated Italian and French elements. Generally considered among the greatest E ...

Jean-Philippe Rameau Jean-Philippe Rameau (; – ) was a French composer and music theory, music theorist. Regarded as one of the most important French composers and music theorists of the 18th century, he replaced Jean-Baptiste Lully as the dominant composer of Fr ...

, Reinhard Keiser and

George Frideric Handel George Frideric (or Frederick) Handel (; baptised , ; 23 February 1685 – 14 April 1759) was a German-British Baroque music, Baroque composer well known for his opera#Baroque era, operas, oratorios, anthems, concerto grosso, concerti grossi, ...

. He sang with the Nederlandse Opera in Monteverdi's operas '' L'Orfeo'' and '' L'incoronazione di Poppea'', and also in ''Rêves d'un Marco Polo'' of Claude Vivier. Bernard Holland described his appearance in 1996 as Zoroastro in Handel's '' Orlando'' with Les Arts Florissants, conducted by William Christie, in the

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

: "Harry van der Kamp is the only man, managing Zoroastro's bass arias with pleasing clarity and heft." He recorded several Bach cantatas and the ''

Mass in B minor The Mass in B minor (), BWV 232, is an extended setting of the Mass ordinary by Johann Sebastian Bach. The composition was completed in 1749, the year before the composer's death, and was to a large extent based on earlier work, such as a Sanctu ...

'' with

Gustav Leonhardt Gustav Maria Leonhardt (30 May 1928 – 16 January 2012) was a Dutch keyboardist, conductor, musicologist, teacher and editor. He was a leading figure in the historically informed performance movement to perform music on period instruments. Leo ...

. On a recording of Bach's ''

St John Passion The ''Passio secundum Joannem'' or ''St John Passion'' (german: Johannes-Passion, link=no), BWV 245, is a Passion or oratorio by Johann Sebastian Bach, the older of the surviving Passions by Bach. It was written during his first year as direc ...

'' with Sigiswald Kuijken he appeared together with his teacher Max van Egmond and

Christoph Prégardien Christoph Prégardien (born 18 January 1956) is a German lyric tenor whose career is closely associated with the roles in Mozart operas, as well as performances of Lieder, oratorio roles, and Baroque music. He is well known for his performances an ...

as the

Evangelist Evangelist may refer to: Religion * Four Evangelists, the authors of the canonical Christian Gospels * Evangelism, publicly preaching the Gospel with the intention of spreading the teachings of Jesus Christ * Evangelist (Anglican Church), a c ...

. In 1996 he recorded Bach's ''

St Matthew Passion The ''St Matthew Passion'' (german: Matthäus-Passion, links=-no), BWV 244, is a '' Passion'', a sacred oratorio written by Johann Sebastian Bach in 1727 for solo voices, double choir and double orchestra, with libretto by Picander. It sets ...

'' with

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

and the

Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century The Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century ( nl, Orkest van de Achttiende Eeuw) is a Dutch early music orchestra. Frans Brüggen and Lucy van Dael co-founded the orchestra in 1981. Sieuwert Verster became financial manager in 1984. Although he did no ...

in a live performance in the Vredenburg (castle), together with

Nico van der Meel Nico van der Meel is a Dutch tenor. He made his debut with the Concertgebouw Orchestra during the 1987/1988 season and made a recording of Bach's ''St John Passion'', conducted by Sigiswald Kuijken. Between 1989 and 1996, he made several tours and ...

(Evangelist),

Kristinn Sigmundsson Kristinn Sigmundsson (born 1 March 1951) is an Icelandic operatic bass. Sigmundsson earned a degree in biology from the University of Iceland. He then worked as a teacher before commencing music studies under Guðmundur Jónsson at the Reykjavi ...

(Jesus),

María Cristina Kiehr María Cristina Kiehr (born in Tandil, Argentina) is a soprano vocalist associated with Baroque music. After receiving her early musical training in Argentina, she moved in 1983 to Europe and studied under René Jacobs at the Schola Cantorum Basil ...

, Ian Bostridge and

Peter Kooy Peter Kooij (or, internationally Kooy, born 1954, in Soest) is a Dutch bass singer who specializes in baroque music. Biography Kooij started his musical career at 6 years as a choir boy. However he started his musical studies as a violin stud ...

, among others. He performed regularly with the choir Junge Kantorei in Eberbach Abbey, in Monteverdi's '' Vespro della Beata Vergine'' in 1978, in Handel's ''

Messiah In Abrahamic religions, a messiah or messias (; , ; , ; ) is a saviour or liberator of a group of people. The concepts of ''mashiach'', messianism, and of a Messianic Age originated in Judaism, and in the Hebrew Bible, in which a ''mashiach'' ...

'' in 1979, in Bach's ''St. Matthew Passion'' in 1981 and 1985, and in his ''Mass in B minor'' in 1983. He has worked with such ensembles as the

Hilliard Ensemble The Hilliard Ensemble was a British male vocal quartet originally devoted to the performance of early music. The group was named after the Elizabethan miniaturist painter Nicholas Hilliard. Founded in 1974, the group disbanded in 2014. Although ...

Musica Antiqua Köln Musica Antiqua Köln was an early music group that was founded in 1973 by Reinhard Goebel and fellow students from the Conservatory of Music in Cologne. Musica Antiqua Köln devoted itself largely to the performance of the music of the 17th and 18th ...

or Les Arts Florissants. With the Huelgas Ensemble he recorded works of

Matteo da Perugia Matteo da Perugia ( fl. 1400–1416) was a Medieval Italian composer, presumably from Perugia. From 1402 to 1407 he was the first ''magister cappellae'' of the Milan Cathedral; his duties included being cantor and teaching three boys selected by ...

. In 1984 he founded the Gesualdo Consort Amsterdam to perform madrigals of the 16th and 17th century, of composers such as

Carlo Gesualdo Carlo Gesualdo da Venosa ( – 8 September 1613) was Prince of Venosa and Count of Conza. As a composer he is known for writing madrigals and pieces of sacred music that use a chromatic language not heard again until the late 19th century ...

Emilio de' Cavalieri Emilio de' Cavalieri (c. 155011 March 1602), or Emilio dei Cavalieri, the spellings "del" and "Cavaliere" are contemporary typographical errors, was an Italian composer, producer, organist, diplomat, choreographer and dancer at the end of th ...

and

Scipione Lacorcia Scipione Lacorcia (fl. 1590–1620) was a Neapolitan composer of madrigals. Biographical data for Lacorcia is almost non-existent. Apart from his activity from 1590 to 1620, culminating in his third book of madrigals for 5 voices, little is k ...

, and also music of the 20th century. Van der Kamp and the Gesualdo Consort completed ''Het Sweelinck Monument'', a first complete recording of the vocal works of Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck on 17CDs in October 2010. The recording was awarded the "Klassieke Muziekprijs 2010". Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands was present at the commemorative event at the Oude Kerk van Amsterdam on 20 October 2010, and Van der Kamp was made a Ridder in de Orde van de Nederlandse Leeuw.

Teaching career

In 1994 Harry van der Kamp was appointed professor at the

Hochschule für Künste Bremen The University of the Arts Bremen (German: Hochschule für Künste Bremen, HfK Bremen) is a public university in Bremen, Germany. It is one of the most successful arts institutions, and its origins date back to 1873. The University of the Arts Br ...

. He has been teaching at the Stiftung Kloster Michaelstein.Dozenten Stiftung Kloster Michaelstein
teachers of the Foundation for Education and Research (in German)

References

External links

Harry van der Kamp
on Haydn Festival Eisenstadt * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kamp, Harry Van Der 1947 births Living people Dutch basses Operatic basses Dutch academics 20th-century Dutch male opera singers People from Kampen, Overijssel Conservatorium van Amsterdam alumni Knights of the Order of the Netherlands Lion Academic staff of the University of the Arts Bremen