New bassoon teachers

An interview from Codarts Magazine – Winter 2009/2010

The two of them were born in the same year, played bassoon in the same youth orchestras, both now fulfil the role of leader in Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra and since this school year have been jointly appointed as bassoon teacher at the Rotterdam Classical Music Academy of Rotterdam Conservatoire.
But that’s where the parallels between Bram van Sambeek and Pieter Nuytten end. ‘Bram was already a good bassoonist when he was very young, for instance,’ relates the Fleming Pieter Nuytten (Ghent, 1980). ‘He started playing when he was ten years old. I only began when I was fifteen. I did play in the same youth orchestras as he, but then always a few years later.’
Bram van Sambeek (Groningen, 1980) was also taken on by the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra at a young age. He was 21. ‘Quite soon after I started there, I was approached to come and teach at the conservatoire,’ he tells. ‘Maybe I was a good player then, but I didn’t yet know if I could handle the responsibility.’ He decided to wait. ‘After six years of moving around in the Dutch music scene I feel I’m in a stronger position now. With that experience it’s more credible to give lessons. Moreover, I’ve noticed that in music, you have to be completely involved. That also translates itself to the responsibility you have towards your students. Now I’m ready to deal with it.’
Van Sambeek took the job, on the condition that he could share it. This is how Pieter Nuytten appeared on the scene, who was already teaching at two music schools and just before, had been appointed as a teacher at the conservatoire in Maastricht: also a difference between Nuytten and Van Sambeek, for whom this is a first job in teaching. Van Sambeek: ‘This is the right moment for me. I’ve just wound up my study for the Dutch Music Prize, a prize for musicians who have strongly developed in the recent period. For me it marks the end of a phase.’
Both musicians are full of ideas and enthusiasm. Nuytten: ‘The time at the conservatoire is a very important one. It is one of the moments in your life when something can change fundamentally. In this, the relationship with your teacher is very important. The teacher can set off an amazing dynamic in the student. Make a real difference.’
From one of his own teachers, Georg Klütsch, Nuytten learned how important it is to prepare students for auditions. ‘He was one of the most successful in Germany in this. The essence of his job was to deliver people to orchestras.’ Nuytten also sees an important role for learning the raw craftmanship. ‘I think that 95 percent of bassoon playing is technique, and five percent personality. Under technique, I also mean things like tonal quality, breath support, versatility and intonation. As a bassoonist you sometimes have only a single long note, but for this you really need the fundaments, plus a few extras on top of that. With one line, the greats in the field can produce something very beautiful.’
Van Sambeek is also bringing his acquired didactic experience along to the new job. ‘In recent years I’ve observed many teachers, such as Ole Kristian Dahl and Sergio Azzolini. With the idea of teaching in mind, I followed lessons from a completely different perspective.’ He arrived at an ironic conclusion: ‘I saw how bad I had been as a pupil.’ He smiles. ‘Often I wasn’t open to what they were trying to transmit to me, afraid of losing what I could already do. But sometimes you just have to surrender yourself.’
From Dahl he also learned practical, universally employable tips. ‘For example if you take your reed – thus the most resistance – out of your bassoon and blow very hard through your instrument, then you get the feeling of the kind of power you need in playing, and what kind of feeling goes with it. With that single trick you can get your speed of blowing right in one time. It’s not possible to explain that kind of thing in words.’
Van Sambeek thinks the collaboration with Nuytten is a very healthy one. ‘It’s good to have two distinct sounds be heard. I’m very intuitive and on the other hand he has a lot of structure and experience in teaching. We each have a different approach, but the same taste. We complement each other well.’

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Bram van Sambeek

Bram van Sambeek (1980) is a solo bassoonist with the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, a position he has held since 2002. He has made a great impression on audiences and the press with his playing, both at home and abroad. "Gorgeous bassoon-solo in Ravel’s Alborada del Gracioso", praised The Guardian in 2003, and in 2005 De Volkskrant wrote: "It was mainly bassoonist Bram van Sambeek and oboe player Alexei Ogrintchouk who attracted attention with their playing, of a soloist level.” As a freelancer he has played in orchestras such as the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, the Mahler Chamber Orchestra and the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande. He performs regularly as a guest of the famous London Symphony Orchestra as solo bassoonist.
In September 2009 Bram won the Dutch Music Prize (Nederlandse Muziekprijs). The Dutch Music Prize is the highest distinction which can be awarded to young talented musicians by the Dutch government. The organisation of the prize is taken care of by the Dutch Performing Arts Fund.
Also see www.bramvansambeek.com.

Pieter Nuytten

Pieter Nuytten (1980) studied bassoon at the conservatories of Antwerp, Cologne and Basel with Francis Pollet, Danny d’Haene (contrabassoon), Prof. Georg Klütsch and Sergio Azzolini.

Pieter played a lot in youth orchestras like the Dutch National Youth Orchestra, the European Union Youth Orchestra, the Pacific Music Festival Orchestra (Japan) and the Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester. Early on he worked with conductors like Claudio Abbado, Bernard Haitink and Ivan Fischer.

After playing as a freelancer with professional orchestras in Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany, Pieter was on trial for Associated Principal Bassoon with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra in Glasgow in 2004. Subsequently he became ‘basson solo’ with the Orchestra of the Opera de Rouen - Haute Normandie (2005-2007) and since October 2007 he is a Solobassoonist at the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra. As a guest Pieter appears regularly with other orchestras, among others: Rundfunk Sinfonieorchester Berlin and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra Amsterdam.

He is very passionate about chamber music and had the opportunity to work with musicians as a.o. Andras Adorjan, Laura Mikkola, Igor Roma, Nicholas Daniel, Jonathan Kelly, Zvi Meniker, Marija Pavlovic, Priya Mitchell, Vladimir Mendelssohn and Jean-Claude Vanden Eynden. Pieter also appeared with ensembles like Oxalys, I Solisti del Vento and Asko en Schoenbergensemble.

In 2001 Pieter made his debute in Mozarts Sinfonia Concertante in Bozar, Brussels. Since then he played Peter Maxwell Davies’ Strathclyde Concerto nr. 8, Sinfonia Concertante by Haydn and Mozarts Bassoon Concerto (live broadcasting on Radio Klara). He was accompanied by orchestra’s from Belgium, France and Germany and by conductors Roy Goodman, Daniel Kawka, Hubert Buchberger and Ivan Meylemans.  

Pieter is bassoon teacher in the music school of Boom and since 2009 in the Conservatories of Maastricht and Rotterdam.