contra bassoon
Simon Van Holen
Simon Van Holen received his first bassoon lessons at the age of eight. He studied at the Royal Conservatoire in The Hague and continued his studies with Gustavo Núñez at the Robert Schumann Musikhochschule in Düsseldorf, where he graduated in 2010. Here he was awarded with the DAAD Förderpreis for foreign students on account of his extraordinary artistic skills.
Van Holen took part in the Zermatt Festival Academy and the Gustav Mahler Academy. A scholarship from the foundation Villa Musica Rheinland-Pfalz allowed him to perform chamber music with such musicians as Menahem Pressler, Ingo Goritzki and Sergio Azzolini.
Simon Van Holen was a member of the European Youth Orchestra and the Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester and was accepted to the orchestra academy of the Düsseldorfer Symphoniker in 2007. In 2011 Simon Van Holen was appointed solo contrabassoonist at the Düsseldorfer Symphoniker; since 2012 he holds the same position at the Concertgebouw Orchestra.
In 2013 the Prix de Salon, the annual prize awarded by the orchestra’s business club to Concertgebouworkest members, allowed him to record his debut CD Pro Contra! (Challenge Records) including a newly commissioned work for contrabassoon and string quartet by Kees Olthuis.
Simon Van Holen teaches at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam and at Cologne’s University of Music and Dance, and regularly gives masterclasses in the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany and South-Korea.
Since 2020, Simon Van Holen playes a Heckel contrabassoon from the collection of the Foundation Concertgebouwokest, which was newly built for him and could be purchased thanks to contributions from the Global Friends Belgium.
Simon Van Holen received his first bassoon lessons at the age of eight. He studied at the Royal Conservatoire in The Hague and continued his studies with Gustavo Núñez at the Robert Schumann Musikhochschule in Düsseldorf, where he graduated in 2010. Here he was awarded with the DAAD Förderpreis for foreign students on account of his extraordinary artistic skills.
Van Holen took part in the Zermatt Festival Academy and the Gustav Mahler Academy. A scholarship from the foundation Villa Musica Rheinland-Pfalz allowed him to perform chamber music with such musicians as Menahem Pressler, Ingo Goritzki and Sergio Azzolini.
Simon Van Holen was a member of the European Youth Orchestra and the Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester and was accepted to the orchestra academy of the Düsseldorfer Symphoniker in 2007. In 2011 Simon Van Holen was appointed solo contrabassoonist at the Düsseldorfer Symphoniker; since 2012 he holds the same position at the Concertgebouw Orchestra.
In 2013 the Prix de Salon, the annual prize awarded by the orchestra’s business club to Concertgebouworkest members, allowed him to record his debut CD Pro Contra! (Challenge Records) including a newly commissioned work for contrabassoon and string quartet by Kees Olthuis.
Simon Van Holen teaches at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam and at Cologne’s University of Music and Dance, and regularly gives masterclasses in the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany and South-Korea.
Since 2020, Simon Van Holen playes a Heckel contrabassoon from the collection of the Foundation Concertgebouwokest, which was newly built for him and could be purchased thanks to contributions from the Global Friends Belgium.
Simon Van Holen received his first bassoon lessons at the age of eight. He studied at the Royal Conservatoire in The Hague and continued his studies with Gustavo Núñez at the Robert Schumann Musikhochschule in Düsseldorf, where he graduated in 2010. Here he was awarded with the DAAD Förderpreis for foreign students on account of his extraordinary artistic skills.
Van Holen took part in the Zermatt Festival Academy and the Gustav Mahler Academy. A scholarship from the foundation Villa Musica Rheinland-Pfalz allowed him to perform chamber music with such musicians as Menahem Pressler, Ingo Goritzki and Sergio Azzolini.
Simon Van Holen was a member of the European Youth Orchestra and the Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester and was accepted to the orchestra academy of the Düsseldorfer Symphoniker in 2007. In 2011 Simon Van Holen was appointed solo contrabassoonist at the Düsseldorfer Symphoniker; since 2012 he holds the same position at the Concertgebouw Orchestra.
In 2013 the Prix de Salon, the annual prize awarded by the orchestra’s business club to Concertgebouworkest members, allowed him to record his debut CD Pro Contra! (Challenge Records) including a newly commissioned work for contrabassoon and string quartet by Kees Olthuis.
Simon Van Holen teaches at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam and at Cologne’s University of Music and Dance, and regularly gives masterclasses in the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany and South-Korea.
Since 2020, Simon Van Holen playes a Heckel contrabassoon from the collection of the Foundation Concertgebouwokest, which was newly built for him and could be purchased thanks to contributions from the Global Friends Belgium.
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Simon Van Holen (photo: Renske Vrolijk/Concertgebouworkest -
Simon Van Holen during a tour to Prague. image: Peter Tollenaar/Concertgebouworkest -
Simon Van Holen speaks to a Brazilian interviewer after an open-air concert in São Paulo. image: Renske Vrolijk/Concertgebouworkest -
Roland Krämer, viola; Fred Edelen, cello; Georgina Poad, double bass; Simon Van Holen, contrabassoon image: Mladen Pikulic -
Simon Van Holen - image: Mladen Pikulic
