Biography
Photo: Karin de Jonge
Photo: Anne Peters, Fontys Academy of Music and Performing Arts, 2019
Andreas van Zoelen studied saxophone and conducting at the Brabants Conservatorium in the Netherlands. After these studies with Jean Pennings and Jan Cober, he studied with Carina Raschèr, daughter of pioneer saxophonist Sigurd Raschèr. In the area of composing he enjoyed lessons with Alexandre Hrisanide and Jan van Dijk.
He is the tenor saxophonist of the Raschèr Saxophone Quartet and professor of Classical Saxophone at the Fontys Academy of Music and Performing Arts.
Andreas has a specific interest in the history of the saxophone. In his chamber music program “L’Histoire du Sax”, he presents the sounding history of the saxophone from its naissance until the present day, playing instruments from his large historical collection. This interest in the history of the saxophone furthermore resulted in 2013 in an extensive book about the history of the saxophone in the Netherlands, which received international acclaim and is now seen as a standard work. His articles are regularly published in international journals. Andreas holds a PhD from the Vrije Universiteit Brussels, Belgium, where he successfully defended his doctoral thesis on “An identification of the Raschèr tradition, with a link to the heritage of Adolphe Sax” in 2021. In 2013 he was invited by Leo van Oostrom to join “Edition Sax”, an ensemble which focuses on performing early works for the saxophone on historic instruments built by Adolphe Sax.
Photo: Susanne van Zoelen – Lucker, Dinant, Belgium, 2019
During his career, he has worked with many orchestras such as the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra under Sir Simon Rattle, philharmonie zuidnederland, the Beethoven Orchestra Bonn and the SWR Symphonieorchester. Furthermore, he has collaborated with musicians such as Stewart Copeland (The Police), Daniel Kientzy, and Markus Stockhausen.
As a soloist he has performed with orchestras like the Magogo Kamerorkest, the Badische Staatskapelle Karlsruhe and many more.
As an experienced recording artist, he has contributed to over 40 CD and DVD productions.
His compositions have been played by renowned ensembles and orchestras across the globe. As an arranger he has worked for a long list of international orchestras.
Arvo Pärt personally gave van Zoelen permission to work on several of his works, thus creating versions of Pärts music with saxophones. Similarly, he worked with composer/pianist Fazil Say.
Photo: Riin Eensalu, Tallinn, Estonia, 2019
Photo: Felix Broede
A promotor of new saxophone repertoire and a pioneer of the bass saxophone, over 140 works were written especially for Andreas van Zoelen, a list to which more works are being added every year. In 2021, the CD “For Now and Forever” was released, with several new works for tenor saxophone, in different combinations.
He has performed with leading chamber music ensembles such as the Nederlands Saxofoon Kwartet (Dutch Saxophone Quartet), and was invited to join the famous Raschèr Saxophone Quartet in 2014, where he succeeded founding member Bruce Weinberger on tenor saxophone. With this highly successful ensemble, he performs concerts and teaches masterclasses across the globe.