Nihad Hrustanbegović (born 7 June 1973) is a Bosnian-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 ...

accordion Accordions (from 19th-century German language, German ', from '—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a Reed (mou ...

ist and

pianist A pianist ( , ) is a musician who plays the piano. A pianist's repertoire may include music from a diverse variety of styles, such as traditional classical music, jazz piano, jazz, blues piano, blues, and popular music, including rock music, ...

from

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

. He is considered to be one of the most prominent and successful solo concert accordion artists from

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...

and

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

Music Education

Nihad began his music education at 9 at the music school in

Bijeljina Bijeljina ( sr-cyrl, Бијељина) is a city and municipality in Republika Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is the provincial center of Semberija, a geographic region in the country's northeast. As of 2013, it has a population of 107,715 ...

, Bosnia and Herzegovina. At 15, he attended the Music College at the

University of Tuzla University of Tuzla ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, Univerzitet u Tuzli, Универзитет у Тузли) is a public university located in Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina. The university was founded in 1958. It became a proper university in 1976, and today ...

, Between 1988 and 1991, Nihad won five prizes as accordionist at the Concurs for Music Students of Bosnia and former Yugoslavia, among them three prizes as soloist. In 1995 he continued his music education in the Netherlands at the College for Arts in

Arnhem Arnhem ( ; ; Central Dutch dialects, Ernems: ''Èrnem'') is a Cities of the Netherlands, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality situated in the eastern part of the Netherlands, near the German border. It is the capita ...

at the

Messiaen Olivier Eugène Prosper Charles Messiaen (, ; ; 10 December 1908 – 27 April 1992) was a French composer, organist, and ornithology, ornithologist. One of the major composers of the 20th-century classical music, 20th century, he was also an ou ...

Academy – a master of music performance program where he received training from Miny Dekkers and Gerie Daanen. He followed this with several master classes, including in

Groningen Groningen ( , ; ; or ) is the capital city and main municipality of Groningen (province), Groningen province in the Netherlands. Dubbed the "capital of the north", Groningen is the largest place as well as the economic and cultural centre of ...

with Friedrich Lips, Margit Kern, James Crab and in

Tilburg Tilburg () is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Netherlands, in the southern Provinces of the Netherlands, province of North Brabant. With a population of 22 ...

with Joseph Maccerollo. He took part in the 'European Project for New Accordion Music and Performance', an intensive program for accordion students in original music. Hrustanbegovic received a bachelor's degree in 2000, and in 2002 a Master of Music with Cum Laude.

Professional career

Nihad Hrustanbegovic has performed extensively in the Netherlands: * 1998 at The Vredenburg Music Centre in

Utrecht Utrecht ( ; ; ) is the List of cities in the Netherlands by province, fourth-largest city of the Netherlands, as well as the capital and the most populous city of the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Utrecht (province), Utrecht. The ...

during the

Golden Jubilee A golden jubilee marks a 50th anniversary. It variously is applied to people, events, and nations. Bangladesh In Bangladesh, golden jubilee refers the 50th anniversary year of the separation from Pakistan and is called in Bengali language, ...

of The Foundation for Refugee Students UAF in the presence Her Majesty

Queen Beatrix Beatrix (Beatrix Wilhelmina Armgard, ; born 31 January 1938) is a member of the Dutch royal house who reigned as Queen of the Netherlands from 30 April 1980 until her abdication in 2013. Beatrix was born during the reign of her maternal gr ...

. * 2005 at the "Knight Hal" in

The Hague The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...

during the fifth "Van Heuven Goedhart-Congres' and at the

Concertgebouw Concertgebouw may refer to one of the following concert halls: * Concertgebouw, Amsterdam, Netherlands * Concertgebouw, Bruges, Belgium * Concertgebouw de Vereeniging, Netherlands {{disambiguation Buildings and structures disambiguation pages ...

in Amsterdam. He has collaborated with artists including

Al Di Meola Albert Laurence Di Meola (born July 22, 1954) is an American guitarist. Known for his work in jazz fusion and world music, his breakthrough came after joining Chick Corea's Return to Forever group in 1974. He launched, from 1976 afterwards, a s ...

Grace Jones Grace Beverly Jones (born 19 May 1948) is a Jamaican singer, songwriter, model and actress. She began her Model (person), modelling career in New York State, then in Paris, working for fashion houses such as Yves Saint Laurent (brand), Yves St ...

, The Jazz Orchestra of the Concertgebouw, the acrobatic theatre dancing group The Corpus, Flairck and Mozes Rosenberg. Nihad Hrustanbegovic released his first solo album ''The Best of Concert Accordion'' in 2007. The CD debut was the National Dutch TV program ''De Wereld Draait Door''. The self-produced recording includes classical transcriptions (

Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (German: �joːhan zeˈbasti̯an baχ ( – 28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his prolific output across a variety of instruments and forms, including the or ...

, Scarlatti,

Grieg Edvard Hagerup Grieg ( , ; 15 June 18434 September 1907) was a Norwegian composer and pianist. He is widely considered one of the leading Romantic era composers, and his music is part of the standard classical repertoire worldwide. His use of N ...

, Paganini), original contemporary works for solo accordion Gubaidulina, and

world music "World music" is an English phrase for styles of music from non-English speaking countries, including quasi-traditional, Cross-cultural communication, intercultural, and traditional music. World music's broad nature and elasticity as a musical ...

compositions ( Semionov, Hrustanbegovic). In the same year he composed and played music for a TV commercial for

Heineken Heineken Lager Beer (), or simply Heineken (), is a Dutch pale lager beer with 5% alcohol by volume produced by the Dutch brewing company Heineken N.V. Heineken beer is sold in a green bottle with a red star. History On 15 February 1864, ...

Extra Cold. During his first accordion recital on 6th juni 2010 in Concertgebouw in Amsterdam he presented his second solo album Opus 7 The Cross-over and got the huge appreciation in Dutch News Paper Trouw by the journalist Stan Rijven: "What Pablo Casals did for emancipation of the cello, and Astor Piazzola of the bandoneon is Nihad Hrustanbegovic doing for accordion. He gives a 'poor man's piano' admirable place at the Concert stage".

Discography

Albums

*'' Une belle journée'' 2016 *'' The Four Seasons -

Vivaldi Antonio Lucio Vivaldi (4 March 1678 – 28 July 1741) was an Italian composer, virtuoso violinist, impresario of Baroque music and Roman Catholic priest. Regarded as one of the greatest Baroque composers, Vivaldi's influence during his lif ...

'' (2015) *'' Black Orpheus - Nihad Hrustanbegovic plays jazz'' (2013) *'' Sevdah for Petronella - Nihad Hrustanbegovic plays the Piano'' (2013) *'' Live in Het Concertgebouw Amsterdam'' (2011) *'' Opus 87 The Cross over'' (2010) *'' The Best of Concert Accordion'' (2007) Recently he's played with Grace Jones, Al Di Meola, and the jazz orchestra of the Concertgebouw. In June 2010 he gave a recital in the 'Kleine Zaal' of the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam and presented his second solo CD, 'Opus 7 The Cross-over'.http://www.accordions.com/news.aspx?d=09-Jul-2010#art2336, Accordions Worldwide, Standing Ovation for Nihad Hrustanbegovic, Amsterdam - Netherlands, Rob Howard , Retrieved September 10, 2010.

References

External links

Nihad Hrustanbegovic (English)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hrustanbegovic, Nihad 1973 births Living people 21st-century classical composers Yugoslav musicians Dutch accordionists Male classical composers Bosnia and Herzegovina emigrants to the Netherlands 21st-century accordionists 21st-century male musicians