MUSICIAN, PROFESSOR,SAXOPHONIST AND FOUNDER OF SAXOPHONE MUSEUM ONLINE ! INTERVIEW WITH ANDREAS VAN ZOELEN !
‘’Find a balance between structure and creativity. One cannot exist without the other! We have to give both of them a place in our reality (and daily life) to really thrive. ‘’
1.You studied saxophone and conducting at the Brabants Conservatorium in the Netherlands, what advice have you kept from your teachers Jean Pennings and Jan Cober?
Lots of good advice really. But honestly much more than advice. They both offered me a really good technical handwork that I can rely on, and, both in different ways, great perspectives on music making in general. I also had composition lessons, first with Alexandre Hrisanide, then with Jan van Dijk. They too, showed me the craft of composition, which I use to this day, almost on a daily basis. Not only when composing, but especially also, when I interpret a piece that I am performing. I feel very grateful that I can look at a composition from many different ways.
2.What do you recall from your studies with Carina Rascher, the daughter of the famous saxophonist Sigurd Raschèr?
Firstly, the kindness of her willing to have me as a student. Then, the generosity with which she shared so much knowledge and insight. Respect and love for music also. It was an incredibly special time for me.
3.You are a professor of classical saxophone at Fontys Academy of Music and Performing Arts, could you give some information for yourself ,to have the chance to learn more about you ,such as when exactly did you graduate - were you awarded as a Ph.D?
I studied at the “Brabants Conservatorium”, which was the name back then for the Fontys Academy of Music and Performing Arts. I received my diploma as conductor and saxophone teacher in 2001, and as performing saxophonist in 2002. I started teaching there in 2006. In 2013 I concluded a master degree, doing research on the development of the classical saxophone in the Netherlands. After this, in 2021, I finished my PhD at the University of Brussels, successfully defending my PhD thesis on the Raschèr tradition, with a link to the heritage of Adolphe Sax.
4.In your opinion which skills or criteria a new saxophonist member of the European Union for admission to the Fontys Academy of Music and Performing Arts must meet?
We do not only accept students from the European Union. I have had students from all over the world in my class, including many from the USA and Asia. The official requirements you find on the school’s website . For me, after almost 20 years of teaching at this university, I want to get the feeling of musicality in a student, and the idea that a student will work hard with dedication making the most out of him or herself. This, for me, is the treasure of teaching, helping people find their inner self, and creating the best version of themselves. Helping them find their own unique voice and capabilities. I am happy to say that almost all of my former students are very successful and happy music professionals.
5.Based on the above question, what is the classification of the degrees in the Netherlands in comparison with other countries in Europe, how many years are required for a student to reach the doctoral level?
We have the same system of Bachelor (in our case 4 years), Master (2 years), as elsewhere. The school does not have a PhD doctoral program at the moment. I myself did my doctoral studies at the Vrij Universiteit in Brussels, Belgium, which has a very good platform for the arts.
6.I would like to close the education part with this question, as an Educator, what is the most important advice would you give to a new Saxophonist?
-Trust your instinct. Small children have great instincts, they disappear over time, in part by outside influences. It is important to reconnect with your own inner radar in order to make music in the most honest way that you can.
-Figure out your own path. If you love what you do so much that you are excited to get up in the morning and get out and do it, it’s wonderful. Even if that path is different from what other people are doing with the instrument.
-Find a balance between structure and creativity. One cannot exist without the other! We have to give both of them a place in our reality (and daily life) to really thrive.
7.About the Saxophone Museum Online, which was the main reason or idea to implement it? Tell us a few words about it.
I never thought, when I found my first ‘old’ saxophone, that it would once become a collection like the one that can now be seen at www.saxophonemuseum.online.And that just might be the most important thing that I want to convey through this website: in this lifetime, you build something step by step. Sometimes little ones, sometimes bigger steps.
If you are truly enthusiastic about it, just go ahead and follow your own nose! Before you know it, you will have achieved the unthinkable. It’s that first step that counts.
I really very much hope that seeing this website will inspire others to follow their dreams.In the 90s, when I was attending music school lessons in light of my tuition to become a saxophone teacher myself, I was fortunate enough to sit in with lessons by a very gifted pedagogue. He had, in his music room, a very old baritone hanging in front of the window, which truly intrigued me. Also, he had a few great saxophones stored in his room, among which a Conn straight-neck C melody. From one day to the other, he stopped teaching, and he let me know that I could acquire these two instruments, that I had expressed my interest in pretty much every week, for a symbolic amount.
In the same era, I found an early 1900s alto from Belgium, that had two octaves keys! I had never seen such a thing! For 100 Guilders (the equivalent of € 45) I became the new owner.
A tenor that was high pitched, as were the alto and baritone from my, then very modest, collection, was added some time later.Modest beginnings indeed, but it did not mean I was modestly excited about these instruments!
I tried playing them, wanted to understand their historical context, asked myself all kinds of questions about them. And this is still the very nucleus of my activities as a collector. It is also what inspired me years later to become a doctoral student. I wanted to find answers to questions that surfaced time and again, and wanted to make sure that my findings would be backed by a solid academic fundament. Questions like: how did early Adolphe Sax saxophones sound? Who played them and how? How were they set up by repairmen? What exactly was Sax’ ‘parabolic cone’? What is the exact connection between Adolphe Sax and the Raschèr saxophone tradition?In the process of looking for instruments, I collected, with the same vigor, books about Adolphe Sax, saxophones, 19th century cultural life, musical instruments in general, acoustics and much more. This resulted in a collection of about 4000 books.During my doctoral studies, I realized how fortunate I am that I own these large personal collections. Even more so since my studies, and the writing of my doctoral thesis, happened in great part during the covid period. I then decided that I want to make as much data and information about the instruments available for everyone interested. I’m always happy to share and discuss related matters, and especially welcome new ideas and input! Do please get in touch with me through the contact form on the museum website or my personal website.
8.Would you like your online Saxophone Museum to be implemented as a physical ona at some point in the Netherlands?Have you thought about it?
There are indeed plans for this to happen. Not in the Netherlands, but in Germany. However, it will take quite some time before this can become reality. For now, I am happy that it exists online, so it is accessible for a large audience.
9.Were there any people who supported you in your effort το the online Museum for the collection of the saxophones?
Definitely! I had several former students help me to realize the museum. First and foremost, Jasmijn de Klerk built the, technically quite extraordinary, website for me. She also helped with the whole process of how to upload photos and information about the instruments. Then, in the last weeks and days leading up to the launch of the website on November 6th (Adolphe Sax’ birthday! ) in 2023, Jonah Cabral from California and Hannah Koob from Germany helped with uploading content and checking on every entry. Hannah also handles the Instagram account of the museum: @saxophonemuseum.online . I am very grateful for their help!
10.Your discography also includes a CD entitled For Now AND Forever mainly for tenor saxophone, where did the title come from and how long did it take you to publish these 10 compositions-pieces?
The title comes from the first piece on the album. It was written by Dutch composer Bernard van Beurden.We cooperated many times in the past, with great results. I have premiered several of his pieces, even in the big hall of Concertgebouw Amsterdam. Every now and then, because we both cared so much about music, our characters would clash a little, and we would have a falling-out. As was the case in the early 2010s. A few years later, in 2013, Bernard suddenly called me to ask how I was doing. I told him I had started playing tenor in the Raschèr Saxophone Quartet. We reconciled, and without him telling me, he started writing “For Now and Forever”, for tenor saxophone solo, which he promptly sent to me. What a surprise! It turned out to be one of his last works, if not the last work he wrote before he sadly passed away. So I think the title is rather fitting for the CD, also because I combined the very newest works for tenor saxophone, and the very oldest (on Adolphe Sax tenor with an Erard grand piano). By the way, plans are being made for the follow up album with tenor saxophone repertoire! I think the tenor very much needs more good repertoire.A CD like this takes years of preparation. The works on that CD are written by composers who wrote great pieces for me for the bass saxophone in the early 2000s. As a young man, I focused on the bass saxophone, because I loved it, and couldn’t believe that there was so little repertoire for this saxophone; the mother of all saxophones! Adolphe Sax, after all, built a bass saxophone first, and developed the rest of the family later. So you could say that this CD took more than 20 years in preparation.
11.Tell us a few words about your collaboration with the Rascher Saxophone Quartet, when was the quartet founded and when did you join it for the first time?
The Raschèr Saxophone Quartet (RSQ) was founded in 1969 by saxophone pioneer Sigurd Raschèr. At that point, he already had an incredible career as a soloist behind him. You can read more about the quartet in a book that I put together at our 50th anniversary in 2019: https://vanzoelen.eu/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/RSQ-50-AVZ-DEF-kleur.pdf on my website www.vanzoelen.eu under >publications > books)I started playing concerts with the RSQ in 2013, and became an official member in 2014, following founding member Bruce Weinberger, who played tenor in the group for a remarkable 45 years! I admire and respect his achievements and dedication very much.The first time I heard the RSQ live was in at the end of the 1990s, in the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam. I really enjoyed the concert and was very curious about the repertoire, musicality, instruments etc., so I went to see the quartet after the concert backstage. They invited me to a pedagogical course they did, which is still an important backbone of our activities by the way, and so I went to the masterclass. The rest is history as they say. It has always been the case that new members of the RSQ are people that have done multiple masterclasses with us as a student. I would like to thank Andreas for his collaboration and his full support to all this !
Sources:
www.raschersaxophonequartet.com
