The Dutch-born eclectic Joey Roukens effortlessly pairs swinging pop music with crooning, romantic harmonics. His new Violin Concerto was written expressly for Joseph Puglia, violinist with Asko|Schönberg, and it gives centre stage to his expressive, lyrical style of playing. In addition to its melodic and lyrical sides, the piece has a strong rhythmic and energetic side full of whimsical syncopated grooves.

The young Colombian composer Natalia Domínguez Rangel is an ‘old acquaintance’ of Asko|Schönberg’s. During her training at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam, she took part in 9×7, an educational programme for composition students. Now that she is an accomplished composer herself, and has been awarded the Tera de Marez Oyens composition prize, in this programme she presents her work Las casas del ferrocarril. The piece is inspired from a rough neighbourhood in Bogotá called Las casas del ferrocarril (the houses from the railways) also known as “El cinturon de pobreza” (poverty belt). The composer was chocked by the extremes of hierarchies in societies, how could people live so well and others in terrible conditions. As a result, she looked for beauty in extremes and diversity in timbre, in search of unifications.

Artists

JOEY ROUKENS
Roads to everywhere *)
NATALIA Dominguez RANGEL
Las casas del ferrocarril

ASKO|SCHÖNBERG
conductor Clark Rundell
violin Joseph Puglia

*) With the support of Fonds Podiumkunsten and Ammodo, commissioned by Asko|Schönberg and Muziekgebouw aan ’t IJ.