Pianist - Curator
Photo: Jörgen Caris
Between the lines- Saskia Lankhoorn
In this programme Saskia brings the listener a unique interpretation of famous classical piano works. In dialogue with herself, Saskia plays together with a pre-recorded track that guides her through the music. Another line of melodies is added and creates a multi-layered sound world.
This unique way of working results in an estranging atmosphere, touching the magic world of Haruki Murakami’s writings in which, sounding from a parallel universum, the sounding music luires the listener into this exceptional sound world.
Played with love for sound and silence, space is created for the audience to dwell in this world and enjoy the wonderfully created féerique atmosphere.
February 28 2021 at Flagey Piano Days 2022, Brussels
Musical material by: Brahms, Bach and Schumann
February 25 2021, Leiden
Lunch recital De Doelen ----- >
Pianist Saskia Lankhoorn has choosen a surprising programm created around the soundworld of Debussy's preludes. Debussy's preludes were written before the first World War but they connect seamlessly with the other compositions on the program, all written a century later.
Saskia Lankhoorn | piano
program:
Debussy | Des pas sur la neige
Tsoupaki | Inner Life -a piece for courage and hope
Wolfe | Earring
Debussy | La cathédrale engloutie
Harden | December
Debussy | La fille aux cheveux de lin
Residency Art Chapel
December 2019 Saskia was Artist in Residence at the Art Chapel in Amsterdam.
She worked on a new project with multiple pianos, found in second hand shops and on the internet. Saskia freely created new music for the special environment, making a live installation with a choir of (forgotten) pianos that will develop into a touring project.
December 29, 19.00 Art Chapel Amsterdam -presentation
This project is made possible and funded by Gemeente Amsterdam, Stadsdeel Zuid.
Pianos in the deep
A solo piano recital on the beach
Pianos in the deep took place on the coastline of The Hague, nestled among the breaking waves of the North Sea.
For this wild and exciting summertime project Saskia had selected a great number of composers that she is fascinated by for a long time and who have a strong voice in the contemporary music scene. They had contributed a short work for solo (upright) piano that she played on a specially designed multiple-piano installation, situated directly on the beach, set among the waves of the ocean, with their pedals washing under the breakers, and with the setting sun as backdrop and visitors passing by.
Watch full hour-long registration here!
June 29 2019 - De Fuut Festival Dag in de Branding
Chords & Cables
Each of Saskia's impressive catalogue of performances has brimmed with her passion for the piano - ranging from classical to modern she has performed solo, duo as well as ensemble works. In the past years Saskia has been developing her solo shows, playing new repertoire with her own signature style - the performances either embracing a theatrical element or a theme.
This time she introduces a solo program in which the piano is central to the performance but not in the traditional way. Combining the piano with electronic and prepared sounds, Saskia discovers the external sound possibilities of the instrument. This exciting, hour long show, with four brand new works by renowned composers and young talents, depicts the strength and international character of the Dutch new music scene.
Noriko Koide - new work
Silvia Borzelli - new work
Pete Harden - new work
Peter Adriaansz - new work
Duo X88, since 2012
X88 is the trans-Atlantic piano duo together with Canadian pianist Vicky Chow (pianist with the Bang on a Can All-Stars)
The duo gave their first performances in Holland in November 2012, premiering new works by Evan Ziporyn and Kate Moore, paired with music by David Lang and John Luther Adams.
X88 will tour the Netherlands and the US in fall '18 with brand new works by Nik Bartsch, Tristan Perich, Vanessa Lann and Pete Harden
Saskia Lankhoorn & Pete Harden - Avenue Azure
Avenue Azure
Pete Harden (guitar) and Saskia Lankhoorn (piano and voice) have been performing together in new music groups for more than a decade. This shared history of playing and touring, espying the beauty of the estranging world of travellers inspired their duo Avenue Azure. Almost-songs that trace landscapes, cities and seas, the duo creates atmospheres from other worlds, musical transition, ungrounded in time, that is at once familiar and unfamiliar, shrouding the listener in a dark comfort.
Vicky and Saskia in Boston, MIT
Saskia performing Noriko Koide's piece live at De Link, Tilburg NL
“Saskia Lankhoorn is a dedicated new music pianist, and she knows how to make Kate Moore’s music sing, discovering a lyrical freedom with her touch beyond the structural and technical demands of the score. Her insights into the pieces, and her sensitivity to their sonic possibilities, are based on more than a decade of close collaboration with the composer.”
Manfred Eicher
Dances & Canons
The strong, uncompromising compositions by Kate Moore allures the listener into the hypnotic world of the music. The harmonies move and intertwine in a surprising, kaleidoscopic way. They are accessible and yet alienating, a music of this time. With enormous power and volume, testing the limits of capability, the music leaves no space other than to listen and to feel a radiating joy that fills us with energy and reaches straight for the heart. The solo grand piano is placed in the centre of the audience who, immersed in a sea of sound, are surrounded by speakers.
During the performance a light-sculpture placed above the piano shines, like a sun, an ever-changing light on the performer.
Ensemble Klang, since 2003
Saskia has been playing with the successful Dutch new music group Ensemble Klang for almost ten years. Every member of the group has inspired her, and still inspires her, to keep on listening, developing, and aiming for perfection and enjoying making music together.
Founded in The Hague in 2003, Ensemble Klang’s innovative programmes, their commissioning of work from some of the most exciting composers working today, and the inception of their own record label, has seen them quickly rise to become “one of the top ensembles” (NRC Handelsblad) in the Netherlands’ rich contemporary music scene.
Ensemble Klang’s dynamic approach to contemporary music and “sonic adventure” has attracted not only a loyal public following but also the active participation of some of today’s leading composers. Projects have been staged with Heiner Goebbels, David Lang, Tom Johnson, Julia Wolfe, Michael Hersch and Peter Adriaansz. Its unique yet versatile instrumentation – saxophones, trombone, keyboards, percussion, guitar, electronics – generates the energetic drive and passion of a band.
Performing without a conductor, a typical Ensemble Klang programme combines complex music requiring virtuosic accuracy and breathtaking musical risk. They are born collaborators, and participate in music theatre, site-specific and dance projects almost every season. Klang members feel equally at home in the concert hall, in the open air at a festival or at a pop venue.