Matthijs Koene (1977) finished his studies Cum Laude at the Conservatory of Amsterdam in 2001. Matthijs studied with the panflute players Nicolae Pirvu and Michel Tirabosco, with the flute player Harrie Starreveld, and the recorder player Walter van Hauwe. His coach was Daan Manneke, teacher of composition as a main subject at the Conservatory of Amsterdam.
Besides Verso, Matthijs is also a member of Theo Loevendie’s ensemble Ziggurat. This group consists of the exceptional combination of panflute, duduk, bass recorder, erhu, ganun, double bass, viola da gamba, percussion, and mezzo soprano. Ziggurat has made several tours through the Netherlands, but also Russia, Finland, and England. Moreover, the ensemble played for Queen Beatrix in the Royal Palace in Amsterdam. Apart from founder and resident composer Theo Loevendie, many other composers like Fabio Nieder and Guus Janssen write for Ziggurat. One week a year, the ensemble works together intensively with a specially selected group of young composers on their compositions for this special lineup, subsequently to be performed during the Gaudeamus week.
In addition to a cd recording of Loevendie’s work, tours are planned of Mexico, Russia, and Singapore.
Additionally, Matthijs works closely together with organist Jos van der Kooy. Their repertoire includes work from the Renaissance up to the newest compositions. One of their present projects is performing the sonatas for flute by J.S. Bach, for example during special masses in the Westerkerk in Amsterdam and recording them on cd.
Together with the Dutch composer Andre Douw, Matthijs is working on the realization of a cd with all Douw’s panflute works. The panflute will be presented in compositions with various other instruments: Soprano (Valérie Guillorit), percussion (Enrique Monfort-Barbera), cello (Anna Magda de Geus), organ (Gijs Boelen), and other panflutes (students of the Conservatory of Amsterdam).
Matthijs cooperated with several ensembles for new music: the Ictus ensemble in Brussels, Die Musikfabrik in Cologne, the Vocaal Laboratorium in Amsterdam, and the Ensemble Prime in Groningen, for example. As soloist Matthijs performed Vivaldi’s flute concert op.10 no. 2 with the Promenade Orchestra, and Mozart’s flute concert KV 313 with the RBO Sinfonia. Both works were performed in the big hall of the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, as well as in other concert halls.
Since September 2005 Matthijs is employed by the Conservatory of Amsterdam to teach panflute as a main subject. The goal of the study is to place the tradition of the instrument in a further development of the panflute, through contemporary music.
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