Nihad Hrustanbegović (born 7 June 1973) is a Bosnian-Dutch

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 ...

accordion Accordions (from 19th-century German ''Akkordeon'', from ''Akkord''—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a reed ...

ist and

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 ...

from

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 ...

. He is considered to be one of the most prominent and successful solo concert accordion artists from

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and H ...

and

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

Music Education

Nihad began his music education at 9 at the music school in

Bijeljina Bijeljina ( sr-cyrl, Бијељина) is a city and municipality in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is the provincial center of Semberija, a geographic region in the country's northeast. Administratively, Bijeljina is part of the Republika Srpska ...

, Bosnia and Herzegovina. At 15, he attended the Music College at the

University of Tuzla University of Tuzla ( Bosnian: ''Univerzitet u Tuzli'') is a public university located in Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina. The university was founded in 1958. It became a proper university in 1976, and today is one of the major institutions of high ...

, Between 1988 and 1991, Nihad won five prizes as accordionist at the Concurs for Music Students of Bosnia and former Yugoslavia, among them three prizes as soloist. In 1995 he continued his music education in the Netherlands at the College for Arts in

Arnhem Arnhem ( or ; german: Arnheim; South Guelderish: ''Èrnem'') is a city and municipality situated in the eastern part of the Netherlands about 55 km south east of Utrecht. It is the capital of the province of Gelderland, located on both banks of ...

at the

Messiaen Olivier Eugène Prosper Charles Messiaen (, ; ; 10 December 1908 – 27 April 1992) was a French composer, organist, and ornithology, ornithologist who was one of the major composers of the 20th-century classical music, 20th century. His m ...

Academy – a master of music performance program where he received training from Miny Dekkers and Gerie Daanen. He followed this with several

master classes A master class is a class given to students of a particular discipline by an expert of that discipline—usually music, but also science, painting, drama, games, or on any other occasion where skills are being developed. "Masterclass" is also ...

, including in

Groningen Groningen (; gos, Grunn or ) is the capital city and main municipality of Groningen province in the Netherlands. The ''capital of the north'', Groningen is the largest place as well as the economic and cultural centre of the northern part of t ...

with Friedrich Lips, Margit Kern, James Crab and in

Tilburg Tilburg () is a city and municipality in the Netherlands, in the southern province of North Brabant. With a population of 222,601 (1 July 2021), it is the second-largest city or municipality in North Brabant after Eindhoven and the seventh-larg ...

with Joseph Maccerollo. He took part in the 'European Project for New Accordion Music and Performance', an intensive program for accordion students in original music. Hrustanbegovic received a bachelor's degree in 2000, and in 2002 a Master of Music with Cum Laude.

Professional career

Nihad Hrustanbegovic has performed extensively in the Netherlands: * 1998 at The Vredenburg Music Centre in

Utrecht Utrecht ( , , ) is the List of cities in the Netherlands by province, fourth-largest city and a List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality of the Netherlands, capital and most populous city of the Provinces of the Netherlands, pro ...

during the

Golden Jubilee A golden jubilee marks a 50th anniversary. It variously is applied to people, events, and nations. Bangladesh In Bangladesh, golden jubilee refers the 50th anniversary year of the separation from Pakistan and is called in Bengali ''"সু ...

of The Foundation for Refugee Students UAF in the presence Her Majesty

Queen Beatrix Beatrix (Beatrix Wilhelmina Armgard, ; born 31 January 1938) is a member of the Dutch royal house who reigned as Queen of the Netherlands from 1980 until her abdication in 2013. Beatrix is the eldest daughter of Queen Juliana and her husband ...

. * 2005 at the "Knight Hal" in

The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital of ...

during the fifth "Van Heuven Goedhart-Congres' and at 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 i ...

in Amsterdam. He has collaborated with artists including

Al Di Meola Albert Laurence Di Meola (born July 22, 1954) is an American guitarist. Known for his works in jazz fusion and world music, he began his career as a guitarist of the group Return to Forever in 1974. Between the 1970s and 1980s, albums such as ' ...

Grace Jones Grace Beverly Jones (born 19 May 1948) is a model, singer and actress. Born in Jamaica, she and her family moved to Syracuse, New York, when she was a teenager. Jones began her modelling career in New York state, then in Paris, working for ...

, The Jazz Orchestra of the Concertgebouw, the acrobatic theatre dancing group The Corpus,

Flairck Flairck was a Dutch musical ensemble formed in 1978 by guitar virtuoso Erik Visser.Eelco SchildeFolk World, Old World with New Sound – Dutch folk band Flairck discovers new ground Folkworld.de. Retrieved on 2013-07-23. and multi-instrumenta ...

and Mozes Rosenberg. Nihad Hrustanbegovic released his first solo album ''The Best of Concert Accordion'' in 2007. The CD debut was the National Dutch TV program ''De Wereld Draait Door''. The self-produced recording includes classical transcriptions (

Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the '' Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard w ...

, Scarlatti, Grieg, Paganini), original contemporary works for solo accordion Gubaidulina, and world music compositions ( Semionov, Hrustanbegovic). In the same year he composed and played music for a TV commercial for

Heineken Heineken Lager Beer ( nl, Heineken Pilsener), or simply Heineken () is a pale lager beer with 5% alcohol by volume produced by the Dutch brewing company Heineken N.V. Heineken beer is sold in a green bottle with a red star. History On 15 Febr ...

Extra Cold. During his first accordion recital on 6th juni 2010 in Concertgebouw in Amsterdam he presented his second solo album Opus 7 The Cross-over and got the huge appreciation in Dutch News Paper Trouw by the journalist Stan Rijven: "What Pablo Casals did for emancipation of the cello, and Astor Piazzola of the bandoneon is Nihad Hrustanbegovic doing for accordion. He gives a 'poor man's piano' admirable place at the Concert stage".

Discography

Albums

*'' Une belle journée'' 2016 *'' The Four Seasons -

Vivaldi Antonio Lucio Vivaldi (4 March 1678 – 28 July 1741) was an Italian composer, virtuoso violinist and impresario of Baroque music. Regarded as one of the greatest Baroque composers, Vivaldi's influence during his lifetime was widespread a ...

'' (2015) *'' Black Orpheus - Nihad Hrustanbegovic plays jazz'' (2013) *'' Sevdah for Petronella - Nihad Hrustanbegovic plays the Piano'' (2013) *'' Live in Het Concertgebouw Amsterdam'' (2011) *'' Opus 87 The Cross over'' (2010) *'' The Best of Concert Accordion'' (2007) Recently he's played with Grace Jones, Al Di Meola, and the

jazz orchestra A big band or jazz orchestra is a type of musical ensemble of jazz music that usually consists of ten or more musicians with four sections: saxophones, trumpets, trombones, and a rhythm section. Big bands originated during the early 1910s and ...

of the Concertgebouw. In June 2010 he gave a recital in the 'Kleine Zaal' of the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam and presented his second solo CD, 'Opus 7 The Cross-over'.http://www.accordions.com/news.aspx?d=09-Jul-2010#art2336, Accordions Worldwide, Standing Ovation for Nihad Hrustanbegovic, Amsterdam - Netherlands, Rob Howard , Retrieved September 10, 2010.

References

External links

Nihad Hrustanbegovic (English)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hrustanbegovic, Nihad 1973 births Living people 21st-century classical composers Male classical composers Bosnia and Herzegovina emigrants to the Netherlands 21st-century accordionists 21st-century male musicians