MMH Benefit Concert - Domstad Wind Band
under the direction of Leon Bosch
The Domstad Wind Ensemble presents a delightful and varied program. They open the evening with Ravel's beloved Pavane , in this case arranged for winds. This is followed by Josef Suk's lesser-known Serenade , originally for strings, but this evening presented in a beautifully colorful and virtuosic arrangement for winds. In the second half of the program, we hear the Sonatina for Sixteen Winds , a late work by the great master Richard Strauss. Normally, the ensemble consists of eleven players (ten winds plus double bass), but for this program, it has been expanded to perform this Strauss masterpiece.
On the program:
Maurice Ravel – Pavane pour une infante defunte
Josef Suk – Serenade (op. 6) (arr. Mark Popkin)
Richard Strauss – Sonatine No. 1 for 16 Wind Instruments (“Aus der Werkstatt eines Invaliden”)
The Domstad Wind Ensemble was founded over 40 years ago by several wind players from the Utrecht Student Orchestras and the Netherlands Student Orchestra. It has grown into a professional ensemble of dedicated amateur musicians.
The ensemble's core instrumentation includes oboes, clarinets, horns, and bassoons, supplemented by flutes and a double bass. Its repertoire encompasses both music for a traditional wind octet, such as the serenades by Mozart, Krommer, and Beethoven, and works for a larger wind ensemble, such as Van Otterloo's Symphonietta. Music for strings, including Dvorak's famous Wind Serenade, is also among the ensemble's attractive pieces. In addition, the ensemble has also tackled large orchestral works arranged for wind ensemble, such as Beethoven's 1st and 7th Symphonies and the operas Tosca (Puccini), Carmen (Bizet), and Die verkaufte Braut (Smetena).
The Domstad Wind Ensemble regularly gives concerts on Sunday afternoons. It has appeared several times at the annual "hofjesconcerten" (courtyard concerts) in Amsterdam's Jordaan district, opened the Mozart Year in Zeist, and performed at various festivals, including the Nijenhuis Festival at Nijenhuis Castle in Heino, the summer festival in Goedereede, the Parkfeest (Park Festival) celebrating the 50th anniversary of Amstelpark, and the Utrecht Blaast Buiten (Utrecht Wind Outdoors) festival. The children's concerts featuring Peter and the Wolf and Babar the Elephant were very successful. In the summer of 2022, the ensemble traveled to Terschelling to celebrate its 40th anniversary.
Leon Bosch studied clarinet and conducting at the Maastricht Conservatory, graduating in 1983. From 1980 onwards, he was a clarinetist with the Rotterdam and Amsterdam Philharmonic Orchestras. Since 1989, he has been principal clarinetist of the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra.
He has played with various chamber music ensembles such as the Schubert Consort, the Berlage Wind Ensemble, the Viotta Ensemble and Musique Instrumentale Mosanne, Holland Wind Players, Ensemble Musica Rossi, Complesso musicale Cartizze and Wind Octet '008'.
As a conductor, Leon Bosch has been very active in the world of wind orchestras since his student days and conducted orchestras in Abcoude, Zaandijk, and Marken for several years. Various orchestras, including the CREA Orchestra, Krashna Musica Delft, and Het Orkest in Amsterdam, regularly invited him to conduct their wind section. In this same capacity, he has also been a guest conductor several times with the UvA Orchestra JP Sweelinck, the Utrecht Student Concert, the VU Orchestra, and the Philharmonie Amsterdam.
Mulanje Mission Hospital
Come to this festive evening to benefit Mulanje Mission Hospital. Tonight's artists are generously offering this concert without financial gain, so 100% of the proceeds go to MMH! The English Reformed Church has supported this hospital in Malawi for years, and these benefit concerts are an important part of that long history.
