Dr. Peter van Bergen
director, composer, & multi-instrumentalist improviser
Peter van Bergen was the founding director of LOOS - a position he still holds. Van Bergen studied saxophone at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague with Leo van Oostrom and extended techniques with Evan Parker. Since then he has been working in contemporary composed and improvised music, with and without electronics, and often interdisciplinary. Several composers, such as Louis Andriessen, Guus Janssen, Cornelis de Bondt, Huib Emmer, Paul Termos, Georg Katzer, Martijn Padding, Elliott Sharp, Gao Wei-jie, Roberto Morales and Maarten Altena, have written compositions for him or ensembles/projects through the LOOS Foundation.
He received his Ph.D. Doctor of Arts at the UVB/KCB – University of Brussels/Royal Conservatory Brussels. As an artist/artistic researcher (Topic “Improvisation, interactivity and instability: artistic transformations”) he has given lectures and workshops in numerous countries (a.o. Mexico, USA, Germany, Belgium, The Netherlands, South Africa).
In 2000 he and the LOOS Ensemble were awarded the GENECOprize 2000 for exceptional contributions to contemporary composed Dutch music. In 1987 he received the Dutch Podiumprize for Jazz and Improvised Music, and in 1985 he was awarded with the Ooyevaer Prize for New Music from The City of The Hague.
As an IMPROVISER Van Bergen gave innumerable concerts - both solo and with musicians like Cecil Taylor, Derek Bailey, Evan Parker, Anthony Braxton, William Parker, Han Bennink, Misha Mengelberg, Arto Lindsay, Gunther Christmann, Ikue Mori ,Thomas Lehn, John Zorn, Jacques Palinckx, Wolter Wierbos, Gert Jan Prins, Wilbert de Joode, Nicole Mitchell, Hamid Drake, Ken van der Mark, Roscoe Mitchell, George Lewis, Richard Teitelbaum, Butch Morris , Garth Knox, Tomoko Mukayama, John Russell, Phil Wachsman, Evan Parker , Nicolas Collins, Peter Brotzmann, Balasz Pandi, Peter Evans, Richard Barrett, Joel Ryan, Zeena Parkins . Also he was and is involved in groups under the direction of Guus Janssen, Paul Termos, Georg Graewe, Wolfgang Fuchs, Maarten Altena, Radu Malfatti, Michiel Braam and David Kweksilber (the David Kweksilber Bigband)
As a COMPOSER he received several commissions and long term stipends (since 1994) from the Dutch Fund for Composition and the City of Amsterdam. Besides all his compositions for the LOOS Ensemble ( Factorseries, compositions with a major role for improvisation and multiple choices) he has written for soloists , ASKO Ensemble, De Volharding, Maarten Altena Ensemble, Holz Fuer Europa, Pianoduo Post&Mulder Zengea Karimba Ensemble (ZIM),several ad hoc combinations and musictheater- and danceproductions like Doof, Het Slijpen, Scherven en Menuet (Theatergroup Hollandia with Paul Koek and Johan Simons), Cinderellas and Aan/Uit (PostProductions), ‘t Zandmeisje (Nomadproductions), Veranderingen and Motion Capture (Veranderingen Foundation/Karin Post) and I-Space (Krisztina de Châtel dance company).
In his role as an INTERPRETER of modern composed music he was a member of Hoketus, founded by composer Louis Andriessen, from 1984-86 Solo and with several main ensembles he premiered many new works and was involved in operas from ao Huib Emmer/Ken Hollings, Louis Andriessen/Peter Greenaway, Guus Janssen/Friso Haverkamp and Martijn Padding/Friso Haverkamp, Anne LeBaron/Yuval Sharon.
read more at www.petervanbergen.nl
