The garden house designed by Robert Bekkers in 2007 and finished in Spring 2008 was built as an independent, sound-proof space in the back garden of the Monument House. The first event to be held here is a self-expression workshop on 15th March 2009.
House Concerts & Events
huisconcerten en anders
October 2009, Cape Town classical guitarist Derek Gripper visits the Netherlands: solo concert, guitar masterclass
2009: Centennial birthday of Steinway to Heaven, resident instrument at Monument House, Utrecht:
sightreading workshop and competition, call for multi-hand one piano sheet music, and pianistsLast week of July 2009
2+2 = 6 Double duo concert with duo46Saturday 21 March 2009
A cross domain exploration through video and music
Reception, performance, and discussion: by invitation only
Wednesday 18 March 2009
Chinese Seafood Banquet
10th anniversary of analyticalQ.comSunday 15 March 2009
Tenth anniversary of analyticalQ.com
A celebration of self-expression for 1st-novels-in-progress: by invitation only
Afternoon tea with home-made baked goods
Tapas and music of Spanish composers for guitar and pianoSunday 29 June 2008 from 16:30 to 18:00
Afternoon Recital: piano students of Anne Ku and Olga de Kort-Koulikova
and guest performers: soprano, violinist, guitarist, and pianist
Download 2-page PDF programme notes (184 kB)Sunday 15 June 2008 from 15:00 to 18:00
A Midsummer Tea Concert
Bach, Berio, Brahms, Chopin, and Ravel on piano, violin, and harp
Download 2-page PDF programme notes(128 kB)Sunday 18 May 2008
Impromptu dinner with Vitaly Pisarenko, winner of Liszt Concours
"DUO FOR EXPORT" REVIEWS
Friday 16 November 2007
8 pm for 8:30 pmSaturday 17 November 2007
3 pm for 3:30 pm - children welcomeSaturday 17 November 2007
8 pm for 8:30 pm
Sunday 10 June 2007
Piano Recital: students of Anne Ku, Carol Ruiz Gandia, and Robert Bekkers (please be patient as it takes a while to download the photos, links to mp3's etc)Saturday 9 June 2007
Chamber Music Tapas Style, with tapas and sangria:
voice, piano, guitar, cello, violin, recordersSaturday 24 March 2007
Kitchen Concert: Robert Bekkers,
new solo guitar programme
Sunday 17 December 2006
The Piano as Orchestra,
featuring guitar, harp, and euphonium concertosSunday 10 December 2006
Piano Recital - students of Anne KuSunday 12 November 2006
Segall plays Sweelinck at private Chinese banquetSunday 2 July 2006
Introducing Duo46: Music of the Americas
with photographsSaturday 1 July 2006
Classical Guitar Masterclasses with Dr Matt GouldSaturday 17 June 2006
Monument House Open Day: Sangria at Sunset
housewarming party with chamber music and food
What are house concerts? Why house concerts?
- Rocking the House, 19 October 2008, For some touring musicians, playing concerts in fans' homes is an increasingly attractive complement to club gigs.
- Watch the CBS TV interview (August 2007) in which Fran Snyder of "Concerts in Your Casa" explains why musicians are eager to play in private homes with focussed audiences.
- Are House Concerts a Great Opportunity for You? article by Fran Snyder in The Muse's Muse Newsletter, January 2007
- Read the New York Times article (May 2006): Move the Furniture, the Band is Here
- Read the New York Times article (November 1999): Acoustic Music, Live from the Living Room
- Read the Houston Chronicle article (August 2006): Musicians and audiences alike make themselves at home at house concerts
- More articles and interviews about the what's and why's of house concerts
About Monument House Concert Series:
The Monument House Concert Series was launched in the summer of 2006 by the piano guitar duo of Robert Bekkers and Anne Ku as a private venue to introduce art music involving either the piano or the guitar in an intimate and relaxed setting to audiences in the Netherlands. Two public themed concerts are produced per year, usually in June and December with private concerts throughout the year. Sponsors and collaborators are sought to stage a programme several times to reach a bigger audience.
The carefully renovated monument house at Keulsekade 25, near "Utrecht Centraal" station, was built by the Dutch National Water Board for its employees in 1903. With a breathtaking view of the peaceful canal between Lombok and Oog in Al, the three-storey house offers a restored Steinway Grand Piano (188 cm, model A New York 1909), high ceilings and centrally-heated European oak floors. The reception and piano room comfortably seat 40 with unrestricted views.
Numerous musicians from the Netherlands and abroad have enquired about performing and recording here. This is a nonsmoking venue with free parking under the cool shade of centennial linden trees. The front and back gardens are beautiful in the spring and summer.
DIRECTIONS TO THE MONUMENT HOUSE.
About the founders:
A graduate of the Conservatory of Maastricht, Robert Bekkers also studied contemporary music with Angelo Gilardino in Italy. While accompanying flamenco dance classes, Robert formed the group "IMPETU" consisting of 9 musicians and dancers, mixing flamenco and classical music. He has toured with Serenata Mexicana, Amstel Guitar Quartet, and Berdien Stenberg Orchestra. Since 2001, he and pianist Anne Ku have taken their Piano Guitar Duo to London, North Cyprus, Cape Town, Italy, Houston and Hawaii, and throughout the Netherlands. In 2007, their piano guitar duo formed a trio with Korean violinist Naeon Kim. Bekkers plays a 2005 Jeroen Hilhorst concert guitar, custom-made for the duo. Robert is actively involved in chamber music with mezzo-soprano, flute, violin, oboe, and other instruments as well as arranging music for his various chamber groups.
Born in Brunei of Chinese parents, Anne Ku studied piano under Betsy Hermann in Okinawa and Randall Love at Duke University. She began accompanying choirs from age 12, followed soon after by wedding engagements as pianist and organist. A graduate of London Business School, she brings her passion for producing thematic house concerts from Houston and London to the Netherlands. Anne concluded her composition studies in June 2008 at Utrecht Conservatory with a final exam containing premiere of her second chamber opera, Culture Shock! She continues to write didactic music and arrangements for her private piano teaching practice which is focussed on sight-reading, the topic of her diploma thesis. Her ensemble piece "All Tuned Out" premiered in the Vredenburg was broadcasted on Dutch Radio 4 in spring 2007. Her works have been performed in Utrecht, London, Slovakia, Honolulu, and Cortona. She reviews operas, competitions, and music festivals for Le Bon Journal, an online publication she founded in 2001.
Directions to the Monument House:
updated 5 June 2009
By train to Utrecht Centraal Station, then walk (20 min) or cycle or bus/taxi (10 min) through Lombok via Kanaalstraat or along canals to the west. The house is located between the popular Kanaalzicht Kafe at the corner of Groeneweg and Keulsekade and the thrift shop (charity shop) called "Emmaus" close to the "Laan van Nieuwe Guinea" bus stop. Note: Keulsekade is next to a long canal and our section is a dead-end street.
Note: Lombok is probably the most famous area in the 2,000 year old cobbled-stoned city of Utrecht. In the 1990's it became headline news in the Netherlands for successful multi-cultural integration.
By foot from Utrecht Centraal Station, walk in direction of increasing platform numbers and exit on the Jaarbeurs Beatrix Theatre side. Go north, crossing traffic and you can choose to turn immediate left for the longer but scenic route, to walk along the canal (on your right hand side) or, for the shorter route through shops, turn (a bit later) left onto Kanaalstraat and left onto Groeneweg to the end, and the right onto Keulsekade.
For the scenic and longer route, if you walk along the canal you will soon see a windmill on the other side and the National Mint Museum, or MUNT in Dutch, on the left (same side as street). Cross the bridge ahead and then the one on the right which passes by the Oog in Al park. And then turn right onto a much bigger pedestrian/cyclist bridge which leads you to the popular pub/cafe.
By bus from Utrecht Centraal Station, bus number 5 (6 per hour during office hours in the week) in direction of Kanaaleiland through Lombok and get off after the bridge and the only church (on left) at Laan van Nieuwe Guinea, cross the street, walk towards the canal and then to your left along the canal. It's two strips on the "strippenkaart" (from any KIOSK at the station, cheaper & more convenient for all bus, metro, tram in the country - and many people can share one such ticket) or 1.50 euro to the bus driver. 10 min.
By taxi from Utrecht Centraal station, be sure to walk to the Beatrix Theatre or Jaarbeurs exit of the train station (increasing platform numbers) - i.e. due west. It should cost between 7 to 10 euros. There is a maximum fare (euro 12.50 or something like that).
By car on A2 motorway, exit Oog in Al, after the bridge, pass the Douwe Egberts coffee factory and the GAMMA home improvement store. At the junction facing a huge church, cross over to Vleutensweg and then turn right into Groeneweg heading south. This street hits Keulsekade at its end, where you will see a pedestrian/cyclist bridge over the canal. There's a popular local pub Kafe Kanaalzicht at the corner on your left. You want to turn right onto Keulsekade, parallel to the canal, and the house is the second one there: number 25. This is a dead end street. Park anywhere --- it's free and plentiful.
The house is on the same street, minutes away from the famous second-hand store Emmaus and near the Oog in Al park. Try Routenet.nl and type the postal code: 3531JX
Here's a map for drivers and a map for cyclists and pedestrians
and an aerial view Google earth map of the neighbourhood
