admin – Marion van den Akker

News

16 November 2018 By admin

Geënsceneerde Matthäus passie met Edwin Rutten in Hilversum Heuvelllaan 33 MCO
op 5 april 2020 om 11.00 u. Marion van den Akker alt.

Hommage Julia Culp
15 maart 2020 Luthersekerk Groningen, aanvang 20.00 u.
met Marion van den Akker, alt; Hanneke Tichelaar, alt; Paul Komen, piano

Kerstconcert 21 december 2019 (listen-soundbits)
met Purcell The Blessed Virgin… Bach motet, Brahms Wiegenlied en Ceremony of Carols Britten
m.m.v. Kamer vocaal ensemble Amsterdam o.l.v. Boudewijn Jansen.
solisten Marleen de Bakker harp, Marcel Schouten tenor en Marion van den Akker alt.

Geënsceneerd RECITAL

AFSCHEID
Vrouw… Kind… Zielsverwant
première 25 mei 2019

Meegevoerd worden door verrassende en liefdevolle rouwrituelen met muziek van  componisten als Saint Saens, Liszt, Schumann, Brahms, Hahn, Beethoven,  maar ook Asraf Kateb en John de Kath.  

Uitvoerenden: Marion van den Akker alt-mezzo, Nina de Waal dans en beweging, Joseph Moog piano. regie Jos Groenier

Info via: www.klassiekintveen.nl

BELCANTO recital en masterclass met Nelly Miricioiu:

Op 15 en 16 juni 2019, zie www.klassiekintveen.nl

DERDE SYMFONIE VAN MAHLER: zaterdag 16 november 2019

Om 20.15 uur met Delfts Symfonie Orkest en Marion van den Akker, alt; zie www.hetdso.nl

About

16 February 2016 By admin

Marion van den Akker studied at the Sweelinck Conservatorium in Amsterdam with Erna Spoorenberg. She continued her studies with Henk Smit and Aafje Heynis in the Netherlands and with Josephine Veasey in the U.K. A grant allowed her to participate in master classes given by Nicolai Gedda, Italo Tajo and Brigitte Fassbaender.

As a soloist, Marion van den Akker has worked with conductors as Hartmut Haenchen, Hans Vonk, Aldo Ceccato, Edo de Waart, Kenneth Montgomery, Jean Fournet, Henry Lewis, George Pehlivanian, Alexander Liebreich, Gennadi Rozdestvensky, Kees Bakels, Eri Klas, Mark Foster, Marc Soustrot, Reinbert de Leeuw and Yakov Kreizberg.

Van den Akker has a particularly affinity for orchestra songs. Her performance of Mahler songs (Lied von der Erde, Lieder e/f Gesellen, Kindertotenlieder) sang mostly in Germany and the Netherlands were received with great enthusiasm. Her concert repertoire also includes the Verdi’s Requiem, the Stabat Mater by Dvořák and by Rossini, Beethoven’s Missa solemnis and Ninth Symphony, Alt Rhapsody Brahms and the passions of J.S. Bach.

On the opera stage, Marion van den Akker has interpreted the title role in Dido and Aeneas. Carmen and Il barbiere di Siviglia (Paisiello) she sang Emilia in Otello, Cherubino in Le Nozze di Figaro, Dorabella in Così fan tutte, L’Enfant in l’Enfant et les Sortilèges, Fyodor in Boris Godunov, Prince Orlovsky in Die Fledermaus, Laura in La Gioconda, Nefertite in Akhenaton, Laura in Iolanthe and Principessa in Suor Angelica. Roles in contemporary opera include Monnica Marthe (Willem Dragstra) and the mezzo part in Kopernikus (Claude Vivier). Van den Akker has appeared with De Nederlandse Opera, the Giessen Opera, Nationale Reisopera, Opera Festival Stia (Italy) and the Flemish Opera (Belgium).

Marion van den Akker is active as a chamber musician. She performed as a soloist with the Allegri String Quartet, the Raphaël String Quartet, Ebony Band, Valerius Ensemble, the Ravel Quartet, Parkanyi Kwartet and Ruysdael Quartet. Her chamber music repertoire includes works by Respighi, Brahms, Schubert, Chausson, Schönberg, Musorgsky,Bridge and Gubaidulina.

Additionally Marion van den Akker has given solo recitals with the following pianists Rian de Waal (her late husband) , Martijn van den Hoek, Jeroen Sarphati and Hannes Minnaar in respectively Paris, London, Bath, Bloomington, Amsterdam,Rotterdam Toronto, New Delhi, Manila, Curaçao, Lugano, Firenze, Casablanca, Athens and Corfu.

Various contemporary Dutch composers have been inspired by Marion van den Akker’s voice and have composed music for her. These include Sebastian Huydts (Emerson Songs), Willem Jeths
(I Go), Caroline Ansink (Jeanne d’Arc) and Robin de Raaff (Dickenson Songs).
Peter Jan Wagemans ‘Das Neunte Lied’ was premiered during the Gergiev Festival in a performance focusing on Robert Schumann.

Unfortunately Marion van den Akker had to stop singing for some years because of breast cancer, she also lost her musical partner/ and husband at the same time. She now is a very devoted singing teacher.

BIOGRAPHY

Education
Sweelinck Conservatory Amsterdam
Teacher of music and performing art

Masterclasses
Nicolai Gedda Nice
Italo Tajo Firenze
Brigitte Fassbaender England and Paris

Further education
Henk Smit
Aafje Heynis
Henny Yana Diemer
Josephine Veasey English national Opera
Giessen Opernhaus
Firenze Summer opera course

Educative experiences

Masterclass romantic songs and vocal technic Casa Blanca 1998
Masterclass conservatory Zwolle Schumann 2003
Masterclass conservatory Zwolle contemporary music a.o. Claude Vivier and Gubaidulina 2004
Masterclass romantic songs Koninklijk conservatorium Den Haag 2005
Masterclass songs by Liszt Prins Claus Conservatory
Peter de Grote festival as vocalteacher and performing artist from 2006 to 2015
Producer of chamberopera’s: The old maid and the Thief (Menotti), l’Heure Espagnole (Ravel), la Serva Padrone (Pergolesi)and The Tsar (contemporary opera) by Monique Krüss
Prins Claus Conservatory vocal teacher 2007 to 2015 Groningen

Jury activities

International Vocal Competition Den Bosch 2011,2012,2013,2014
Prins Bernhard Cultuur Fonds ( scholarships for young musicians ) until 2016

Organisation

Rhijnauwen Chamber Music Festival 1994 tot 2000
After summer Festival Zwolle 2000 tot 2007
Royaal Vocaal Den Haag own sereis from 2005 to 2011
Peter de Grote Festival founder vocal department
Foundation Klassiekintveen.nl programmer still active

Commissioned compositions

Pim Moorer	Autumn’s Even
Sebastian Huydts	Emerson Songs
Willem Jeths	I Go
Caroline Ansink	Jeanne d’Arc
Robin de Raaff	Dickenson songs
Jaques Reuland	Rossetti liederen
Peter Jan Wagemans	Das Neunte Lied

SOPRANO ANDREA CONANGLA IN AN INTERVIEW WITH MARION VAN DEN AKKER

Soprano Andrea Conangla from Portugal in an interview with her teacher the mezzo-soprano and vocal coach Marion van den Akker from the Netherlands

AC: The Fach vocal system is used mainly in Opera Houses to help organizing the opera seasons BUT is also used as a guide to students during the training. Is the Fach vocal system a good tool of categorization?

MA: Well, I think it can be very helpful. I agree with the Fach system in a certain way. It was invented in Germany, actually, and being used by them. It’s a very special system. It can help you to, perhaps, not overuse your instrument and finding a good way to coach your voice and not going into extremes in certain roles that you can damage yourself, especially when you are still very young. So I think it is not a bad system, it is useful.

AC: Is it a valid way of categorization? MA: Yes, I think it is. It’s very valid because you can build up a good repertoire without overusing your voice. Only if you stay more or less in the same category of course. AC: How is it used? Or how should it be used?

MA: I don’t know nowadays how it is used, because in my time, they used it in Germany in quite a proper way. They produced one or two seasons in advanced and they looked for voices to fill in the roles. But in “the old days” it was the other way around. The producers and intendants of the opera houses were more interested in the singer, they searched operas to fit the singer’s voice. If they really stick to the Fach system you could sing good roles, as I did as a lyrical mezzo, like Cherubino, Dorabella, Carmen, it was not too heavy, and it was good to build repertoire. But sometimes, some houses asked me for Cherubino as a light mezzopart but they also ask me to sing Venus a dramatic soprano, that was impossible for me at that time ! It’s totally different. Venus can be sang as a Zwischen-fach1 role. Venus can be sang by a dramatic soprano, but it can also be sang by a high full lyrical mezzo. It’s in the middle of two Fächer, like Fidelio a bit.

AC: What are the dangers or opportunities involved?

MA: I think there’s not a real danger when you stay within your Fach, on the other hand it can be a bit boring when you want to develop your voice. Some German singers stay for years in the same theater and singing the same parts over and over again (at least in my days) But You can also develop your voice in different ways. Let’s say you are a soubrette and you like to develop more in a lyrical coloratura soprano. Because that’s very near to each other, then you don’t get the chance to do that in some houses. There are other houses, perhaps bigger houses where you get the chance to do so, but you need to be really careful with yourself and 1 Voice that fits between two categories. take everything in consideration; can I do that? Is my voice strong enough, is my body strong enough, do I have the stamina on the long run? Can I sing all this different parts? So it depends a lot on yourself, and your knowledge of the music, on your own voice, on the right support of your teacher. Otherwise those houses will exploit you.

Click here: Interview Marion van den Akker to read the complete interview

CD RECORDINGS

For further information, see: Listen

Artistic direction

16 February 2016 By admin

Reputation

Marion van den Akker has a wonderful reputation as an artistic director and advisor for festivals, stages and competitions where she also served as a jury member, among these the Prince Bernhard Cultural Foundation, the Peter the Great Festival, the Nazomer Music Festival and the renowned International Vocal Competition ‘s-Hertogenbosch. In 1994, together with Rian de Waal, she founded the Rhijnauwen Chamber Music Festival in Bunnik, and later, in 2005, the series Royaal Vocaal in The Hague. Press and public acclaim is ongoing for the Klassiekintveen Foundation, the farmhouse annex concert hall where in its famed acoustics, van den Akker programs concerts as well as facilitates recordings.

For actual example of artistic direction see www.klassiekintveen.nl

Recording Studio Drenthe

16 February 2016 By admin

Spacious, quiet, professional

Recording Studio Drenthe is situated in the village of Valthermond (Holland), in the heart of a former Drenthe fencolony. In 2003, the Dutch pianist Rian de Waal renovated a dilapidated farmhouse, creating a concert/recording venue where music can be heard at its best. The old part has been converted into an attractive concert hall; the stables next door is his private studio.

With outstanding acoustics, quiet surroundings and with the additional facilities available, onder de linden is a perfect venue for recording, and for rehearsing or performing music.

The farmhouse also provides residential facilities, including single and double bedrooms, as well as a kitchen and bathroom. That saves precious travelling time and creates calm in the creative process. There are also hotels and restaurants close by.

Recording facilities

The concert hall/recording room has been carefully constructed to provide wonderful acoustics. In collaboration with Polyhymnia excellent facilities for CD and SACD productions are also available.

floor area about 25 x 15 meters
beam height 10 meters
heavily insulated multiplex roofing panels
wooden floor
heating pipes laid in rubber
double-glazing
Steinway grand piano in excellent condition (D274)
piano tuner (on request)
technician (on request)
microphones (DPA 4006. Schoeps MK2, Neumann KM143)
microphone pre-amps custom built by Polyhymnia International BV
DSD recording and editing:
Sonoma DSD recording system
Meitner adc-8 mklV dsd ad converter
PCM recording and editing:
Pyramix Virtual Studio by Merging Technologies
surround monitoring:
B&W Loudspeakers
Sony 5000 Amplifier

Flexible rentals

Recording equipment, technician, grand piano, piano tuner and sleeping accommodation can all be rented separately.

Ruth Willemse recording opera aria’s with Peter Nilsson, winter 2016.

Vocal coaching

16 February 2016 By admin

Coaching

After a wonderful, 40 year career of singing all possible disciplines including opera, lied and oratorio as well as the great adventure of contemporary music, having found my own voice and discovered all the possibilities it presents, I feel the need to coach classical singers more and more.

Technique

I work in a manner I have developed myself, ultimately extremely rewarding: clearly traditional in the use of the vocal cords, position of the vocal box, treatment of vowels, respiration, vibration and resonance, legato, phrasing and flexibility of the voice, an open throat, passaggio, tongue position, support and breath control.

Repertoire and more

Care in the pronunciation of different languages (Italian, French, German, Russian and English) is fundamental. Together with my pianists Aleg Tryfanenkau, Jeroen Sarphati and Victoria Dmitrieva, I/we work on opera, songs, oratorio and modern music, all the repertoire that is key to becoming a truly all round classical singer.

Multifaceted artist

Mezzo-soprano Marion van den Akker is a multifaceted artist. She gave master classes on the songs of Schumann, Liszt, Strauss Brahms and lectures on the oeuvre of the Canadian composer Claude Vivier and the Russian composer Sofia Gubaidulina.
Marion van den Akker founded the series ‘Royaal Vocaal’ in 2005 in the Nieuwe Kerk (The Hague).

She is a singing teacher and performer.
Marion van den Akker is programmer of the Chamber music series ‘Klassiekintveen’ at the concert farm “Onder de Linden” where she also produces chamber opera’s and runs a recording studio.
Marion van den Akker was head of the vocal department and vocal teacher at the Prins Claus conservatorium until September 2014. Recently Marion van den Akker has a private vocal school together with her accompanist /pianist Jeroen Sarphati.

Never give up!
————————————————————————————————–
Class august 2018 with Boudewijn Jansen conductor
on Rosenkavalier trio by R. Strauss and Marion as vocal coach.

————————————————————————————————————-

Class august 2017 with Antony Hermus conductor and Marion vocal coach!

Class august 2016 with conductor Ed Spanjaard, conductor Antony Hermus and Marion vocal coach

Class july 2016 with Jos Groenier director, Jeroen Sarphati and William Shaw piano.
Work, walks, talks and good food!

Class July 2016 with Jos Groenier director and Jeroen Sarphati piano

Class 2015 warming ups in nature

relaxing

stabat ‘maters’

class Groningen 2014

JEROEN SARPHATI

Jeroen Sarphati studied piano with Jan Wijn and Song Accompaniment with Rudolf Jansen at the Amsterdam Conservatory. He took masterclasses with singers like Barbara Bonney and Robert Holl, and with accompanists like Roger Vignoles and Irwin Gage. He won the Concertgebouw Vriendenkrans Competition twice, and performed at several international venues like the Brussels Opera de la Monnaie, the Hermitage at St. Petersburg, and the Grand Opera de Bordeaux. He played at the Festival of Flanders and the Festival of Aix en Provence, and performed at the Concertgebouw with Elly Ameling and Maarten Koningsberger. He’s had a long standing collaboration with Marion van den Akker, in performing as well as in teaching together. Jeroen Sarphati has also directed and translated operas for several Dutch opera companies.

Alt-Mezzo

16 February 2016 By admin

‘Singing is my destiny…’

‘Singing is my destiny, my lot; it is my great passion, an obsession, you might say. If I haven’t sung for a week, my personality loses it’s sparkle. To sing is a necessity, it is my life. I was born with it. It is a self-centered profession.
Though I have followed various courses and master classes, ‘the essential thing’ was to find my own sense of truth. Finding what is characteristically me! Being able to find and imagine the sound you wish to hear. The influences of others I integrate into my own truth. Besides my concerts with orchestras and my operatic roles, I am devoted to chamber music. When singing “lieder”, accompanied either by piano or and ensemble, I feel most true to myself and the composer. Here the beauty of the music is often determined by the art of “leaving out” or omission. I often feel this very strongly when I am singing Mahler: when I achieve the precise emotion, then I need add nothing beyond this – it is a ‘given’, it just happens.

Childhood Dreams

I always wanted to be on stage, loved to be occupied with things musical. According to my mother, even at the age of two I was singing along with the radio. I became a member of musical society but to my regret, I was only given boys’ roles. Perhaps that was because I had a rather low voice or because I was so independant. A tree-climber, that’s me, though I dreamt of playing the role of the princess”.

For further information, see: About/Biography
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