Adriaan Bonsel (4 August 1918 - 9 July 2011) was a Dutch

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

. He was born in

Hilversum Hilversum () is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of North Holland, Netherlands. Located in the heart of the Gooi, it is ...

, Netherlands, and died at the age of 92 in

Amersfoort Amersfoort () is a Cities of the Netherlands, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Utrecht (province), Utrecht, Netherlands. As of 31 January 2023, the municipality had ...

, Netherlands.

Education

Bonsel studied the

flute The flute is a member of a family of musical instruments in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, producing sound with a vibrating column of air. Flutes produce sound when the player's air flows across an opening. In th ...

at the

Amsterdam Conservatory The Conservatorium van Amsterdam (CvA) is a Dutch conservatoire of music located in Amsterdam. This school is the music division of the Amsterdam University of the Arts, the city's vocational university of arts. The Conservatorium van Amsterdam ...

and studied composition with Jan Koetsier.

Professional Activities

Bonsel was principal flautist of the Radio Philharmonic Orchestra at its inception in 1945. He was a co-founder of the Radio Philharmonic Sextet. He was also a professor of flute at

Utrecht Conservatory The Utrechts Conservatorium is a Conservatory of Music in Utrecht, Netherlands and part of the ''Utrecht School of the Arts'' (HKU). The conservatory opened in 1875 and is one of the eldest professional musical education institutes of the Nether ...

and the conductor of the Faso Flute Ensemble. Bonsel composed works that were commissioned by the Dutch Ministry of Education, Arts and Sciences, the

AVRO Avro (an initialism of the founder's name) was a British aircraft manufacturer. Its designs include the Avro 504, used as a trainer in the First World War, the Avro Lancaster, one of the pre-eminent bombers of the Second World War, and the d ...

, the Dutch Radio Union, the Dutch Pipers Guild, and the Johan Wagenaar Foundation, among others. His students include Mirjam Nastasi, Professor of Flute at

University of Freiburg The University of Freiburg (colloquially ), officially the Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg (), is a public university, public research university located in Freiburg im Breisgau, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The university was founded in 1 ...

Compositions

* Suite for flute and string orchestra (1947) * ''Folkloristische Suite'' for winds and percussion (1958), part of the repertoire of the

Eastman Wind Ensemble The Eastman Wind Ensemble was founded by conductor Frederick Fennell at the Eastman School of Music in 1952. The ensemble is often credited with helping redefine the performance of wind band music. Considered one of America's leading wind ensemble ...

. * ''Jozef in Dothan'' (1958) * ''Suite voor blokfluit en clavecimbel of hobo en piano'' (1958) * ''Symphony No. 2 for orchestra'' (1959) * ''Souvenir'' for flute solo (1959) * ''Elegie'' for viola solo (1961) * ''Mijn moeder Kenau'' (1962) * ''Mariken van Nimweghen'' (1962) * ''Een moeilijk mens'' (1963) * ''Vrede - oorlog - vrede?'' (1975) * ''Suite populaire'' for orchestra (1983) * ''Suite for bamboo flute ensemble and string orchestra'' (1988)

Awards

In 1947, Bonsel was awarded the Music Prize of the City of Amsterdam for his ''Suite for Flute and String Orchestra.'' In 1983, he won a composition competition in Würzburg, Germany, for his ''Suite Populaire.''

External links

Adriaan Bonsel page at Muziekschatten

References

1928 births 2011 deaths Dutch classical composers Dutch flautists Dutch music educators Conservatorium van Amsterdam alumni People from Hilversum {{Netherlands-composer-stub