Atlas Academy
18-30 August 2009

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In the summer of 2009 the Atlas Ensemble organized the first edition of the Atlas Academy at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam.
The Atlas Academy offered a wide range of daily activities >

1 Composers’ workshops on 15 non-western instruments
wind instruments – duduk, ney, shakuhachi, sheng, sho
zithers – qanun, santur, zheng, koto
bowed string instruments – kemençe, kamancha, erhu
lutes – tar, setar, pipa

2 Master classes for musicians
Group and individual lessons with world famous soloists/tutors such as Gevorg Dabaghian (duduk, Armenia), Wafaa Safar (ney, Syria), Wu Wei (sheng, China), Elchin Nagijev (tar, Azerbaijan), Siamak Aghaei (santur, Iran) and Makiko Goto (koto, Japan).

3 Creation of new intercultural repertoire
Composers’ practical on writing for mixed intercultural combinations under the guidance of composers experienced in this field such as Fabio Nieder (Germany), Artjom Kim (Uzbekistan), Mark Armanini (Canada), Stefano Bellon (Italy) and Joël Bons (Holland).
Guests composers a.o. Kiawasch Sahebnassagh (Iran), Wim Henderickx (Belgium), Sanae Ishida (Japan), Francisco Castillo Trigueros (Mexico) and Cynthie van Eijden.

4 Lectures and documentation
General and theoretical perspectives will be treated in lectures by invited guest speakers such as Samuel Wong (Singapore), Kiya Tabassian (Iran) and Rokus de Groot (Holland). The activities of the Atlas Academy will be documented (audiovisual and written) with the objective to build a comprehensive digital library.

The Atlas Academy is made possible with the financial support of Gemeente Amsterdam, the Turing Foundation and the Canada Council.


Atlas Academy – Open House
Fri 28 & Sat 29 August Conservatorium van Amsterdam 13.00 & 15.00
entrance free

13.00-15.00 traditional music
15.00-17.00 new music for eastern and western instruments

the presentations were recorded by De Concertzender
detailed schedule 28 August >
detailed schedule 29 August >