Aart Strootman
Pioneering composer/guitarist Aart Strootman (1987) throws a solid knock on the door of the music business of our times due to his intellect and frank, fresh view on musical genres and styles.
His carreer started during highschool, when he received lessons from Dick Hoogeveen and Jorge Oraison at the Rotterdam conservatory. After secondary school he continued his studies in Tilburg with Hein Sanderink, obtaining his Bachelor's in Music cum laude in 2008. Subsequent studies with Marlon Titre, Elliott Fisk and Scott Tennant resulted in a cum laude Master's in Music with the highest grade (10/10) at Conservatory Fontys & Zuyd in 2010. At the same institute he graduated with a Master's in Music Theory and at the University of Utrecht he obtained a MA in Musicology.
Since 2009 Aart Strootman teaches music history, (advanced) eartraining, analysis, philosophy and performance studies at the Fontys School of Arts in Tilburg. He is artistic leader of contemporary music ensemble F.C. Jongbloed. An ensemble commissioning new works by students composition from all over the Netherlands combined with material from the most recent music history.
In 2012 he found his own group TEMKO with whom he performed mostly his own music, mostly on homemade instruments. In 2012 Aart Strootman was awarded “Brandstof” talent by the BKKC, followed the next two years by MuziekLab’s “New Arrivals”. In 2014 Aart was granted “Nieuwe maker” by the Dutch Fund of Performing Arts. With this support he followed masterclasses composition with Nik Bärtsch in Zürich.
He has played solo with Britten Sinfonia, the Radio Orchestra of Hessischer Rundfunk, WDR, SWR, Iceland Symphony Orchestra and the New York Philharmonic. As a soloist he played recitals at the most diverse venues: from local museums to the Barbican Hall, from Amsterdam to Wellington. Most of these concerts are given on homemade instruments developed via elaborate collaborations with composers. An 8-string guitar was made for Steve Reich, a 5-string tabletop instrument for Anthony Fiumara and so forth.
As a composer Aart wrote music for numerous theatre plays. He is nominated for the Gaudeamus Award 2017. He wrote music for F.C. Jongbloed, DissonArt Ensemble, TEMKO, Ramon Lormans, Bang on a Can, Jacqueline Hamelink, Nora Fischer, Philharmonie Zuid Nederland, Storioni, Vincent van Amsterdam and s t a r g a z e.