• 18-05-2023, Thursday, at 7:00 pm - Ticketed event

The evening concert IMMORTAL BACH, held at the Lentz Villa on Thursday 18th May 2023 as part of the 14th International Saxophone Festival, features world-famous saxophonist Henk van Twillert and his ensemble VENTO DO NORTE, consisting of students from Porto’s School of Music and Performing Arts (ESMAE). The audience will also have the opportunity to applaud the BARITONE BAROQUE COLLECTIVE, made up of all the saxophonists performing at the Lentz Villa.

The programme consists of works by Johann Sebastian Bach, his son Johann Christian, as well as a piece by the Norwegian composer Knut Nystedt, based on the famous Leipzig cantor’s song Komm, süßer Tod, BWV 478. The event is part of our cycle promoting Portuguese culture, titled VILLA PORTUGAL.

PROGRAMME

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)

Chaconne from Partita No. 2, BWV 1004

Perf. Henk van Twillert – baritone saxophone

Knut Nystedt (1915-2014)

Immortal Bach, based on the song Komm, süßer Tod, komm sel’ge Ruh, BWV 478

Perf. Baritone Baroque Collective

Henk van Twillert, Gonçalo Silva, Lucas Ramos, Nuno Ramos, Sara Pais, Rui Silva

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)

Brandenburg Concerto No. 2, BWV 1047 (Allegro, Andante, Allegro Assai)

Perf. Vento do Norte

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)

Erbarme dich, mein Gott from St Matthew Passion, BWV 244

Perf. Baritone Baroque Collective

Henk van Twillert, Gonçalo Silva, Nuno Ramos, Rui Silva

Johann Christian Bach (1735-1782)

Sinfonia No. 3

Perf. Vento do Norte

THE PERFORMERS

HENK VAN TWILLERT

He graduated with honours from Ed Bogaard’s class at Amsterdam’s Sweelinck Conservatorium. Co-founder (with Bart Kok) of the famous Amsterdam Saxophone Quartet, van Twillert has played with such well-known musicians as Jaap van Zweden, Daniël Wayenberg, Han Bennink, and others, performing for the opening of Ajax Amsterdam’s Johan Cruijff Arena football stadium (1996) and at the EXPO’98 final concert in Lisbon.

His collaboration with the Amsterdam Soloist Quintet has yielded such highly successful productions as Tango, A Homage to Astor Piazzolla (with violinist Sonja van Beek) and Homage to Heitor Villa-Lobos.’

2001 proved a turning point in the artist’s career. In that year van Twillert recorded Johann Sebastian Bach’s famous cello suites (arranged for baritone saxophone) for the first time. With singer Carlos do Carmo he released the CD Saudades, containing Portuguese fado pieces, and with Latvian soprano Inessa Galante – the CD Confesso. The saxophonist’s collaboration with pianist Tjako van Schie yielded the CD A Bag of Music, as well as numerous concerts in the Netherlands, the Netherlands Antilles, and Portugal.

Van Twillert is the author of the dissertation Transcribing and Interpreting Bach’s Cello Suites on a Baritone Saxophone as well as author and performer of his own songs released on the album New York, on which he features as the vocalist and leader of Mr Henk & Band

As a soloist, van Twillert has appeared with many well-known orchestras, including the famous Royal Navy. Composers who have dedicated their works to him include Gijs van Dick, Rob Hauser, Johan de Meij, and Chiel Meijering.

A lecturer at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam, he now also teaches at the ESMAE School of Music and Performing Arts in Porto, conducts masterclasses and concerts, and presents his own expert-acclaimed musical programme for children titled ‘Stars of the Future’.

VENTO DO NORTE

The ensemble, founded in 2005, consists of passionate young talented saxophonists who are Henk van Twillert’s students at Porto’s ESMAE School of Music and Performing Arts. Graduates are gradually replaced by their younger schoolmates, while care is taken to preserve the ensemble’s high artistic level and energy.

Since 2008, Henk van Twillert and Vento do Norte have embarked on annual tours in many countries of the world, including the Netherlands Antilles, Belgium, the Netherlands, Venezuela, and the United States.

Vento do Norte is the 1st prize winner in the Chieri International Music Competition (Italy) in the category of chamber music. In 2009 they recorded the CD Adagio of Saxophones, and in 2019 – Toot Your Roots, featuring music by Johann Sebastian Bach and Astor Piazzolla.

The line-up that has come to perform at the 14th International Saxophone Festival in Poland is already the fourteenth generation of this ensemble. It now consists of Henk van Twillert (artistic director, soprano and baritone saxophones), Nuno Ramos (soprano saxophone), Sara Pais and Lucas Ramos (alto saxophones), Rui Silva and Raquel Castro (tenor saxophones), Gonçalo Silva (baritone saxophone), and Eugenio Silva (bass saxophone).