Camiel Jansen - Componist der Nederlanden

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Composer Laureate

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Camiel Jansen will be the Composer Laureate for two years from 2026. He is the sixth composer to hold this national office after Anne-Maartje Lemereis (2024-2025), Martin Fondse (2022-2023), Calliope Tsoupaki (2018-2021), Mayke Nas (2016-2018) and Willem Jeths (2014-2016). The Composer Laureate of the Netherlands is an initiative of Buma Cultuur that has given the musical community a figurehead for contemporary Dutch music. The Composer Laureate is appointed by an independent jury.

Controversial composer

The Composer Laureate is a controversial composer. As a passionate ambassador, the composer stands up for the interests of all those involved in the life of music and enters into dialogue with fellow composers, musicians, theatre directors, concertgoers, record companies, music teachers, politicians and program makers on radio and TV.

The Composer Laureate performs throughout the country: for introductions and interviews, and to collaborate with venues, ensembles, orchestras and festivals. Keep an eye on the website and social media of the Composer Laureate for current and coming performances.

Anne-Maartje Lemereis, Composer Laureate 2024 and 2025

Anne-Maartje Lemereis Componist der Nederlanden

Anne-Maartje Lemereis took over the title from Martin Fondse in 2024. She primarily wanted to focus on music education by deploying it widely and making it accessible to as many people as possible. And within that education, she also wanted to focus on making things. “Making it yourself, specifically, and not reproducing others’ productions, but creating your own work.”

Martin Fondse, Composer Laureate 2022 and 2023

Martin Fondse was Composer Laureate for two years from January 2022 to the end of 2023. His ambition was to connect all walks of life with music. He is a man of decisiveness, and will therefore do everything he can to make this happen. “I will do everything I can to make it available to the less fortunate among us. I do think that if you have the ambition to connect, then it should happen and show that it is, or can be, for everyone, that everyone belongs.”

Calliope Tsoupaki, Composer Laureate from 2018 to 2021

Calliope, voorganger Componist des Vaderlands

Calliope Tsoupaki was Composer Laureate from 2018 to 2021, a year longer than the standard period of two years because corona asked for adjustment. For three years she was the figurehead of new Dutch music. She saw it as her most important task to make the composer’s craft more visible to a wide audience. “We don’t work introverted in a back room. We are flesh and blood people. We have a craft that has existed for centuries and will continue to exist.” She acted as an ambassador and talked to fellow composers, musicians, programmers, concertgoers, politicians and program makers on radio and TV.

Mayke Nas, Composer Laureate from 2016 to 2018

Mayke Nas, voorganger Componist des Vaderlands

Mayke Nas was Composer Laureate from 2016 to 2018. Mayke Nas at the start of her role: “On the one hand, composing means toiling, experimenting, making mistakes and starting over. On the other hand, it’s fun. Music is a game. With sounds, notes, instruments, audience and acoustics. I can jump wildly when I hear how a composer has managed to cast new sounds in new forms. I approach every piece that I write as a new adventure and that is how I approach my interpretation of Composer Laureate.”

Willem Jeths, Composer Laureate from 2014 to 2016

Willem Jeths, voorganger Componist des Vaderlands

On November 28, 2014, Willem Jeths was appointed Composer Laureate during the Buma Classical Convention in TivoliVredenburg. In the two years that followed, he took every opportunity to present himself as an ambassador for new Dutch music. He took his students from the Amsterdam Conservatory to Oerol to draw attention to the youngest generation of composers there. He showed highlights from our 20th and 21st-century musical heritage in ‘De schatkamer van Willem Jeths’ (available monthly at NTR Podium). His teachers Tristan Keuris, Hans Kox, Daniël Ruyneman, Elisabeth Kuyper, Rob Zuidam, Jacob ter Veldhuis and many others, were in his radio column.

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