ABBA

French horn player who attended the Rotterdam Conservatory and capped off his education by premiering Patrick van Deurzen’s “Horn Concerto”. One of his early credits was a TV production of Giuseppe Verdi’s Rigoletto. He also appears on the album, Paganini Plus.

Laurens and Hildebrand Otto entertained in a horn-and-organ affair at Paradijskerk in Rotterdam, The Netherlands, on 25^th September 2004. They participated in the Promenadeconcert Rotterdam Orgelstad with a recital at the Bergsingelkerk on 5^th March 2005. Before the year was out, Laurens had delivered another premiere, “Romance for Horn Solo and Ensemble” by Rocco Havelaar.

Groups with whom he has performed include De Bezetting, BrassAbility, the Colenso Consort, the Doelenensemble, the Ensemble Target, the Holland Wind Players, the HortusEnsemble, the Netherlands Radio Chamber Philharmonic, the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, the Netherlands Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Netherlands Wind Ensemble, Nieuw Amsterdams Peil, the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, and the Van Swieten Society.

On 12^th November 2006, De Bezetting presented a program of music by Leos Janacek and Sergei Prokofiev at De Zondvloed in Katendrecht.

The Van Swieten Society spent much of February and March 2007 with a tour of Belgium and The Netherlands that shone the spotlight on Franz Schubert’s “Notturno for Piano Trio in E flat major”, “Octet in F major”, and “Piano Quintet in A major” (“The Trout”).

On 26^th October 2007, the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra offered up Camille Saint-Saens’ “Concert voor piano en orkest nr. 5 op. 103 in F”, with Jean-Yves Thibaudet at the keys, bookended by Prokofiev’s “Egyptische Nachten, suite op. 61” and Igor Stravinsky’s Petroesjka.

Laurens gave the world premiere on Ron Ford’s “Only the Wind…”, followed by J.F. Dauprat’s “Sonate” and Kerry Turner’s “The Casbah of Tetouan”, with four other horn players from the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra and actress Marlies Heuer, at the Muziekgebouw aan’t IJ in Amsterdam, on 9^th November 2007.

On 8^th December 2007, he was a member of the orchestra that accompanied the DUDOK Koor, soprano Alfrun Schmid, mezzo-soprano Elsbeth Gerritsen, tenor Falco van Loon and bass Michiel Meijer in a concert that paired Johann Sebastian Bach’s cantata, Nun komm der Heiden Heiland with Heinrich Schutz’s “O lieber Herre Gott”.

He joined the HortusEnsemble at the HortusFestival Schovenhorst for Henk Badings’ “Sextet”, Jean Francaix’s “l’Heure du Berger”, Willem Pijper’s “Septet”, Francis Poulenc’s “Sextet” and Albert Roussel’s “Divertissement” on 27^th August 2008.

On 13^th December 2008, the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, Groot Omroepkoor and the Nationaal Kinderkoor rang in the holidays with Mauricio Kagel’s Sankt-Bach-Passion.

The Netherlands Radio Chamber Philharmonic interpreted Bach’s “Derde orkestsuite in D BWV 1068”, Joonas Kokkonen’s “…durch einen Spiegel”, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s “Pianoconcert nr. 24 KV 491” and Olli Mustonen’s “Tripelconcert voor drie violen en orkest” on 20^th December 2008.

On 14^th February 2009, the Netherlands Radio Chamber Philharmonic took a musical trip through time with Bach’s “Klavierconcert in g, BWV 1058”, featuring soloist David Fray, Ludwig van Beethoven’s “Tweede symfonie in D, op. 36”, Robert Schumann’s “Fuga uber den Namen Bach, op. 60 nr. 6”, and Stravinsky’s “Greeting Prelude”.

Laurens was one of several musicians to join saxophonist Raaf Hekkema on 23^rd April 2009 in the Kleine Zaal at the Concertgebouw for Jacques Ibert’s “Concertino da camera”, Karol Szymanowski’s “3 caprices de Paganini”, Heitor Villa-Lobos’s “Trio”, Antonio Vivaldi’s “Dubbelconcert voor hobo en fagot”, and Jan Zelenka’s “Sonata in Bes ZWV 181/3”.

On 6^th June 2009, the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra and Groot Omroepkoor reunited for Hendrik Andriessen’s “Ricercare” and Louis Andriessen’s “Nocturnen”, sandwiched between Stravinsky’s Canticum sacrum ad honorem Sancti Marci nominis and “Greeting Prelude”.

Laurens teamed up with Casper Bleumers and Paolo Giacometti at Amstelkerk for Johannes Brahms’ “Trio voor hoorn, viool en piano in Es, opus 40” and Carl Czerny’s “Brillante Fantasie op thema’s va Schubert voorn hoorn en piano, opus 339” on 28^th June 2009.

The Hilliard Ensemble and the Netherlands Wind Ensemble recorded Guido Morini’s Una Iliade in February 2009 and it was released in October of the same year.

On 13^th November 2009, Laurens, clarinetist Frank van den Brink, flautist Ingrid Geerlings and bassoonist Hajime Konoye were the featured soloists as Frans Bruggen conducted the Netherlands Radio Chamber Philharmonic in the Netherlands premiere of Ignaz Pleyel’s “Sinfonia in C B. 151”, as well as Franz Joseph Haydn’s “Symphony nr. 101 in D” (“The Clock”), Felix Mendelssohn’s “Das Marchen von der schonen Melusine: Overture”, and Pleyel’s “Symphonie concertante no. 5 in F”.

A much smaller group assembled at the Raadhuis Hilversum on 24^th November 2009 for Antonin Dvorak’s “Strijkkwintet”, “Gustav Holst’s “Kwintet voor blazers”, and Emanuel Moor’s “Dubbelkwintet voor 5 strijkers en 5 blazers”.

On 18^th December 2009, the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, Groot Omroepkoor and the Nationaal Kinderkoor honoured Advent with Johannes Brahms’ motets, “Es ist das Heil uns kommen hir” und “Schaffe in mir, Gott, ein rein Herz”, Anton Bruckner’s “Ave Maria” and “Virga Jesse floruit”, and Ralph Vaughan Williams’ Hodie Christmas cantata.

Nieuw Amsterdams Peil accompanied soprano Cristina Zavalloni in the Grote Zaal at the Muziekgebouw aan’t IJ for Louis Andriessen’s monodrama, Anais Nin, on 4^th November 2010.

An active runner, Lauren participated in the Nike Hilversum City Run, a 10k event, and posted a respectable time of 43:52.

He has been one of the more resounding voices in an international effort to increase awareness of the Dutch government’s intentions to shut down Groot Omroepkoor, the Metropole Orkest, the Musiek Centrum Omroep, the Netherlands Radio Chamber Philharmonic, and the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra. A link from artsjournal.com is listed below.

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