Atlas Orchestra – Holland Festival

The Atlas Orchestra is a new collective consisting of over forty musicians from various cultural backgrounds. It originates from the Atlas Ensemble, which was founded by Joël Bons in 2002. Related string, wind, and percussion instruments from China, Japan, India, Iran, Armenia, Korea, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, Syria, Turkey, and Europe together form an exciting and inspiring sonic palette. After centuries of development, the Atlas Orchestra reunites these 'descendants' and their musical diversity in an entirely new composition. For Nomads, a precursor to this work, Joël Bons was awarded the 2019 Grawemeyer Award for Music Composition, the 'Nobel Prize for music'.

'I imagine a large group of players from all corners of the world, each with different instruments, a wide range of colours and cultures that finds expression in various formations, forging unique relationships.'

– Joël Bons

The concert by the Atlas Orchestra is a co-production with the Oranjewoud Festival, NTR ZaterdagMatinee, Stichting Atlas & Co, and percussion ensemble HIIIT. In recent years, the Oranjewoud Festival has presented various projects with Bons and his musicians—a series of experiments and discoveries that now culminate in this composition, premiering at the Holland Festival. As a prelude, a special Atlas Festival will take place from June 13 to 15, 2025, during the Oranjewoud Festival. In 2004, the Atlas Ensemble was featured at the Holland Festival as an ensemble in residence, hosting workshops, masterclasses, and groundbreaking premieres by composers such as Frangiz Ali-Zade, Bun-Ching Lam, and Jack Body.

Nomads had its premiere in 2016 and was a highlight at several festivals: the Cello Biënnale Amsterdam, November Music, Soundsofmusic, Venice Biennale.

In 2004, the Holland Festival invited the Atlas Ensemble as its ensemble in residence for three weeks. This programme included workshops, master classes and concerts with a traditional, non-Western repertoire. There were also premieres of new works by composers like Frangiz Ali-Zade, Bun-Ching Lam, Jack Body, Stefano Bellon, Artjom Kim, Javanshir Guliev and Evrim Demirel.

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music Joël Bons conductor Ed Spanjaard musicians Atlas Orchestra coproduction Oranjewoud Festival, Holland Festival, NTR ZaterdagMatinee, HIIIT

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