Conservatorium van Amsterdam

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Conservatorium van Amsterdam (centre)

The Conservatorium van Amsterdam is a premier music conservatory, in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, and it's the music faculty of the Amsterdamse Hogeschool voor de Kunsten. As a leading musical institution in the world, the Conservatorium van Amsterdam (CvA) is the largest and most diverse conservatory in the Netherlands. The Conservatorium was the result of a merger of the Sweelinck Conservatory and the Hilversums Conservatorium in 1994^[1]. Sweelinck Conservatorium itself was a merger of the Amsterdamsch Conservatorium (established 1884), Conservatorium van de Vereniging Muzieklyceum (1920) and the Haarlems Muzieklyceum. The Conservatorium van Amsterdam has served as a training ground for orchestral players to fill the ranks of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra and the Rotterdam Philharmonic, much like the Royal College of Music and the London Symphony Orchestra or the Cleveland Institute of Music and the Cleveland Orchestra.

1 History
2 Study Programmes
3 The Building
4 Notable Faculty
- 4.1 Current
- 4.2 Emiriti
5 Alumni
6 References
7 External links

[edit] History

1884: the Amsterdamsch Conservatorium is founded
1888: the Concertgebouw building is completed
1920: establishment of a conservatory by a society called 'Muzieklyceum'
1931: the Bachzaal is completed
1976: Amsterdamsch Conservatorium, Muzieklyceum and Haarlems Muzieklyceum merge to form the Sweelinck Conservatorium
1985: the Sweelinck Conservatorium moves to the former savings bank building in the Van Baerlestraat
1994: Sweelinck Conservatorium and Hilversums Conservatorium merge to form the Conservatorium van Amsterdam
1998: the merger is finally completed, with all training programmes taking place in the Van Baerlestraat and the Nieuwe Vaart

[edit] Study Programmes

[edit] The Building

As from April 21, 2008, Conservatorium van Amsterdam houses in a new building at the Oosterdokseiland, near Amsterdam Central Station. This will be a particularly inspiring location for music students: the new building will have a central position in a cultural area, with among other things the 'Muziekgebouw' with three concert halls for classical music and jazz, and the Public Library. The other Amsterdamse Hogeschool voor de Kunsten (Amsterdam School of the Arts) faculties are situated at walking distance.

The new building has an inviting atmosphere and has been equipped with everything the students need in order to prepare themselves for their future professional career. Students can organize a solo or ensemble concert, or ncreate an interesting project with other music students or students from other art disciplines, make their own posters and flyers, sell tickets, or record their concerts in one of the concert halls and present the demo on the internet radio on the CvA website.

Especially designed for music The design, by Dutch architect Frits van Dongen, is based on the 'Engawa model', the Japanese way of building, where the corridors are situated next to the outer walls of the building and the rooms (concert halls, lesson, and study rooms) within. Large windows in the front will transmit sufficient daylight into the rooms. This way of building ensures that students can study without being disturbed, because the corridors will keep noises from outside out.

The new building will be constructed in three units. At ground level there are four halls:

the Bernard Haitinkzaal, a large hall with 450 seats
Amsterdam Blue Note, a hall for jazz and pop concerts, which seats 200
the Sweelinckzaal, a recital hall with 120 seats
the Theaterzaal, which seats 50

The Bernard Haitinkzaal and the Sweelinckzaal have windows which transmit daylight, which is exceptional for a concert hall. All halls have recording equimpent, so that each concert or exam can be recorded.

There are also a foyer and a canteen at ground level. At the next level there are four floors with lesson rooms and on top of these there are two floors with the library, a lecture-hall and study rooms.

Well-balanced acoustics Acoustic experts from Akoestisch bureau Peutz have researched the acoustic requirements of the lesson and study rooms and concert halls extensively. With these results is has been possible to adapt the lesson and study rooms exactly to the wishes of students and teachers.