Joël Bons: Atlas Orchestra (World Premiere)
Atlas Orchestra conducted by Ed Spanjaard, featuring HIIIT
Royal Concertgebouw Amsterdam, 21 June 2025
Composer Joël Bons has written a new work for his expanded Atlas Ensemble, now transformed into a full orchestra, commissioned by Oranjewoud Festival, Holland Festival, and NTR ZaterdagMatinee: Atlas Orchestra. The Atlas Orchestra is a new collective of over forty top musicians from diverse cultural backgrounds, evolving from the Atlas Ensemble, which Bons founded in 2002. Related string, plucked, wind, and percussion instruments from China, Japan, Korea, India, Iran, Uzbekistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Syria, Turkey, and Europe come together to create a unique and inspiring sonic palette.
Never before have these “descendants” been united in a single orchestra. Now, they come together in all their musical diversity in an entirely new composition. On 21 June 2025, the orchestra performed as part of the NTR ZaterdagMatinee alongside HIIIT (formerly Slagwerk Den Haag), under the direction of Ed Spanjaard.
Atlas Orchestra
Winds
Hyelim Kim, daegum
Maria Cristina González, flute/piccolo
Gevorg Dabaghian, duduk/zurna
Raphaela Danksagmüller, duduk/recorder
Guo Yahzi, guanzi/suona
gamin, piri/taepyeonso
Shavkat Matyakubov, kushnai/surnai
Ainhoa Pérez Etxepare, oboe/corno inglese
Edgards Karpenskis-Allazs, bassoon
Jelmer de Moed, clarinet
Jaime Peña Martínez, basset horn/bass clarinet
Zhang Meng, sheng
Zifan Dai, sheng
Naomi Sato, sho
Michael Boere, uilleann pipes
Sebastiaan Kemner, trombone
Plucked & hammered strings
Fu Xixu, pipa
Elcin Nagijev, tar
Nizar Rohana, ud
Shavkat Matyakubov, dutar
Li Liangzi, zheng
Bassem Alkhoury, qanun
Dani Luca, cimbalom
Ernestine Stoop, harp
Bowed strings
Yan Jiemin, erhu 1
Elshan Mansurov, kamancha 1
Marijke van Kooten, violin 1
Zhao Yuanchun, erhu 2
Huseyn Nagijev, kamancha 2
Cordelia Paw, violin 2
Binnaz Çelik, kemençe
Yuji Nakagawa, sarangi
Peng Chang, zhonghu
Lotus de Vries, viola
Kalle de Bie, cello 1
Ketevan Roinishvili, cello 2
Dario Calderone, double bass 1
Pietro Barcellona, double bass 2
Percussion
Niels Meliefste, vibraphone/percussion
Mariana Soroka, dulcimer/percussion
Gonçalo Martins, marimba/percussion
Artistic team
Joël Bons, composer
Ed Spanjaard ,conductor
Chi-Chun Chen, assistent conductor
Producers
Yoram Ish-Hurwitz, artistic director Oranjewoud Festival
Francesca Clements, producer Atlas
Natálie Kulina, assistant producer Atlas
Dominique Slegers, producer NTR ZaterdagMatinee
PME-tècnia, sound technique
Koen de Kruijf, lighting
© 2025 NTR
An Oranjewoud Festival production
Atlas Orchestra was produced by Oranjewoud Festival in coproduction with Holland Festival and NTR ZaterdagMatinee. The project was made possible with support of Art Mentor Foundation Lucerne, Fonds Podiumkunsten, Het Cultuurfonds and Brook Foundation.