House Concerts
huisconcerten
NEXT: summer house concerts 2008
"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?
- 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. There are two public themed concerts 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 recently 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.
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, and throughout the Netherlands. Bekkers plays a 2005 Jeroen Hilhorst concert guitar, custom-made for the duo.
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 organising thematic house concerts from Houston and London to the Netherlands. Anne is currently midway through her composition studies at Utrecht Conservatory while writing didactic music and arrangements for her private piano teaching practice. Her ensemble piece "All Tuned Out" premiered in the Vredenburg was broadcasted on Dutch Radio 4 in spring 2007.
Directions to the Monument House:
By train to Utrecht Centraal Station, then walk (20 min) or cycle (10 min) through Lombok via Kanaalstraat or along canals to the west. 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.
From Utrecht Centraal Station, by bus number 4 in direction of Cartesiusweg through Lombok and get off after the bridge 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" or 1.50 euro to the bus driver. 10 min. [Actually there are many buses that come this way, onto the Vleutensweg nearby.]
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, turn right onto a 4 lane road. At next traffic light turn left (before the bridge over the canal) onto Laan van New Guinea which is a narrow and nearly a single lane road. Turn right on Groeneweg which leads you to the canal. You will see a big factory on the other side. Take the first and only right which is Keulsekade, parallel to the canal. 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
