Minimal Music Festival 2019

Muziekgebouw aan 't IJ, Amsterdam, Netherlands


Muziekgebouw aan ’t IJ invites you to the sixth edition of the twice-yearly Minimal Music Festival from the 3^rd to the 7^th April 2019: five days full of hypnotic rhythms and trance-inducing melodies, with a focus on the meditational power of repetition music, a concept as old as music itself. The producer, James Holden, in an interview with the Dutch broadcaster VPRO, said: ‘Suddenly I understood what connects the artists from my record collection: they have the same point of view. They all look for some form of trance. Via repeating an idea, or a chord scheme. I heard it everywhere. In the music by minimalists such as Steve Reich, in traditional music by hunters in Mali, in Hindu classical music…’

The wide-ranging festival program offers a varied insight into minimalism: Kate Moore’s new piece Space Junk, the synth-drones of Étienne Jaumet, an adaptation of Steve Reich’s Music for 18 Musicians, Louis Andriessen’s Mysteriën, works by John Luther Adams, Terry Riley, Morton Feldman, Michael Gordon, Michael Harrison, Joep Franssens, Philip Glass, Hans Otte and a new piano concerto, which Vladimir Martynov wrote for the pianist Ralph van Raat. The German sound-artist Christof Schläger opens the program with a foghorn concerto – other pieces including Arvo Pärt’s Da Pacem Domine, likewise on foghorns, will be heard. The festival offers no fewer than three world premieres and a Dutch premiere. The festival is accompanied by lectures, workshops, talks, short concerts, performances and educational activities, all of which create a space for shared experiences, reflection and relaxation. At the Minimalism Festival, the audience doesn’t just hear music with their ears, but also experiences it as a physical phenomenon – a whole-body experience.


April 3–7, 2019
Groot Zaal, Muziekgebouw aan 't IJ, Amsterdam, Netherlands

April 3–7, 2019
Bimhuis, Amsterdam, Netherlands


Further Information:
muziekgebouw.nl